Taliban should talk with the Afghan government and with former jihadi commanders if they really want to end the war and join the peace process, a number of ex-jihadi commanders in Parwan province said on Sunday. 

These ex-jihadi commanders had been speaking at a ceremony commemorating the death anniversary of about 1,200 people who were killed in an attack by Soviet Union soldiers in January 1989 in Parwan’s Salang district.

The ex-jihadi commanders also however criticized Taliban for not having held talks with Afghan government and with them. 

They did however welcome the peace talks but said they established the resistance front - the Northern Alliance – to fight the Taliban and felt strongly that the Taliban also needs to talk with them.  

“The hero people of the north, of Kabul, Parwan, Kapisa and Panjshir provinces, are opponents of the black and“hireling” group (Taliban) and they should come and negotiate with us and with the government of Afghanistan,” said Abdul Basir Salangi, a jihadi commander. 

Speakers at the event also said the past achievements should not be sacrificed for the peace process. 

“Us and the Afghan people are worried about what the cost and dimension of peace will be,” said Ghulam Bahauddin Jilani, head of Parwan provincial council. 

Other speakers meanwhile touched on elections and asked the people stand united. 

“The elections should not create discord among the people. We should not promote discord because of our personal interests,” Fazluddin Ayar, Parwan governor said. 

“We should seriously assess the candidates and identify which one is better and then in consultation bring him to power,” Mohammad Ayub Salangi, the former deputy interior minister said. 

Organizers of the event said the 1989 attack by Soviet Union troops on Salang Valley in Parwan province resulted in the death of over 1,000. 

These comments by the former-jihadi commanders come on the heels of six days of talks between the US and Taliban in Doha.