Afghan govt takes hard stance against Taliban

KABUL, April 21: The Afghan government Thursday announced that striving for peace with the Taliban is no longer a priority as the insurgent group has no mercy on the people.
Government accused the hardline movement of deliberately killing innocent Afghans.
This comes just three days after Taliban insurgents detonated a truck bomb outside an intelligence facility in Kabul. Three insurgents then stormed the compound and gunned down dozens of people, ToloNews reported.
Officials have confirmed that at least 64 people were killed in the attack and over 340 wounded, of which hundreds were civilians.
Government officials on Thursday meanwhile vowed to repress the resurgent group. Those intending to wage war will be eliminated, said Tawab Ghorzang, a spokesman for the National Security Council.
“Our topmost priority is to deal with the Taliban with war as we maintain responsibility to ensure the security of our people,” Ghorzang said. In an unprecedented move, the Afghan Presidential Palace has also accused the Taliban of deliberately killing innocent Afghan people. “This is not a war, their war is to kill the innocent people,” a deputy presidential spokesman Dawa Khan Menapal said. On the military side, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) has also said that the Afghan forces will use all available resources to eliminate the Taliban as it does not have mercy on civilians.-NNI