Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah addressed world leaders at the 17th Shanghai Cooperation Organizations (SCO) summit in Tajikistan on Friday where he stressed the need for a joint effort against terrorism by countries in the region. 

Abdullah said terrorism is one of the main challenges for the country adding that Afghanistan pays the highest price of the war as it is on the first line of the battle.

“Terrorism, tied to extremism and separatism, remain the biggest collective challenge we face in our region. As a frontline state Afghanistan bears the bulk of the burden in the fight against terrorism and extremism,” he said.  

He said Afghanistan is working with all involved nations including Pakistan, to eliminate the infrastructure and breeding grounds that help fund, recruit, train and deploy the man power and logistics use to destabilize Afghanistan and the region as a whole. “The number of losses and casualties in Afghanistan speak for themselves,” he said.

“We continue to appeal to our regional friends by stressing that fighting terrorism, extremism and separatism will require our collective efforts that needs close cooperation and coordination. But first, we need to make sure that we treat all forms of terrorism as one. We cannot make the mistake of differentiating between good and bad terrorism,” he said. 

Kabul’s Peace Efforts 

Abdullah meanwhile talked on the Afghan peace process, saying that Kabul will continue its efforts to move the process forward.

“The government of national unity in Afghanistan continues to promote and Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation agenda. Earlier this year, we presented a comprehensive plan for reconciliation and reintegration that was supported by the international community. Meanwhile, we will defend our citizens, their rights and achievements when attacked,” he said.   

Abdullah said the Afghan government has made every effort to provide an enabling environment for expanding the borders of trade, transit, communications, investment and energy transmission to better equip the country to fight poverty and underdevelopment by bringing the different segments of the great region closer to each other.