The second meeting of leaders against the Taliban which was held in Vienna ended with an emphasis on a peaceful political solution. In their declaration on Wednesday, the participants urged the international community to recognise all forms of resistance of the Afghan people.
The participants of the Vienna meeting also asked the organisers of the upcoming Doha meeting to refrain from any discussion that would lead to the continuation of the Taliban reign in Afghanistan.
The Doha meeting is scheduled to be held on May 1 and 2 and will be hosted by the United Nations Secretary-General.
Ahmad Massoud, the leader of the National Resistance Front (NRF); Fawzia Kofi, a former member of the Afghan parliament; Rangin Dadfar Sapanta, the former foreign minister of Afghanistan, and many other Taliban opponents attended the second meeting held in Vienna.
The participants of the meeting also stressed that the UN deputy secretary general Amina Mohammed should explain her recent irresponsible statements on Afghanistan.
The first meeting of anti-Taliban leaders was held in 2022 in Vienna.
In their declaration, the participants of the Vienna meeting emphasised that the Taliban have not responded to the legitimate and rightful demands of the Afghan people, which had been listed in the declaration of the first round of the Vienna meeting and have increased their brutality.
The participants of the second Vienna meeting praised the legitimate resistance of the political groups and women and girls of Afghanistan and emphasised on coordination of all anti-Taliban groups.
According to the declaration, a working group has been formed to foster better coordination for the unity of the opposition.
The participants also mentioned the Taliban's restrictions on women and their systematic exclusion from social life and said that they consider the international community's reaction, especially the silence of the United Nations with regards to the violation of Afghan women’s rights, to be irresponsible.
Emphasising that many regional and international terrorist groups have moved to Afghanistan and their operational capabilities have increased, the participants of the Vienna meeting have warned that the risk of spreading terrorism in the region has become a serious threat.
The declaration also welcomed the consensus of the region and the world regarding the non-recognition of the Taliban until the establishment of a government based on the free will of the Afghan people and urged the International Criminal Court to identify and prosecute the Taliban leaders who have committed "crimes against humanity, war crimes and systematic violations of human rights”.
