In a gathering in Mazar-e-Sharif, the center of the northern Afghan province of Balkh, religious scholars on Wednesday welcomed a recent political agreement between President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, and asked the two leaders to work together for peace and seek to face national challenges with unity. 

“The agreement removed concerns that existed among the people, and they (Ghani and Abdullah) are now in a unified front,” said Mohsen Danish, a religious scholar in Balkh province.

The religious dignitaries also called on the Taliban to halt the ongoing war and enter into intra-Afghan talks.

“One side kills our children and one side kills our scholars and the other one targets our sons on the frontlines, while we know that all of them are the sons of this land,” said Abdul Rauf Tawana, the head of Balkh's religious scholars' council.

“We are Muslims, not Jews, those who are fighting with each other are also the sons of this country and it is a meaningless war,’ said Baseer Haqqani, a religious scholar in Balkh.

Another scholar, Abdul Hai Hamed, said: “If you want to see Afghanistan in peace, then crackdown on corruption, there is also a need for the role of the scholars to stop the war.”

Meanwhile, some residents in the province also said that the political agreement between Ghani and Abdullah can form a solid path towards peace.

“The two leaders should work to relieve the miseries of their people; they can see what a situation people are passing through, they should feel the pain of the people,” said Ghulam Hazarat, a resident in Balkh.

“I am not too optimistic, because we have tested them before. If someone assesses the past legacy of these two and again trusts them, it will be a mistake,” said Abdul Samad, a resident in Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital of Balkh.