UK commander says dialogue with Taliban insurgents necessary to end Afghan war

Kabul, Sep 18(ANI): In an ambitious aim to help bring an end to the eight-year war in Afghanistan by persuading the Taliban to lay down their arms, British Army Lt. Gen Sir Graeme Lamb said that many Taliban activists have "done nothing wrong", rather they have taken to arms as "they have anger and grievances, which have not been addressed".

While addressing a gathering at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) headquarters in Kabul, Lamb insisted that a dialogue with the Taliban insurgents is necessary to end the cold war.

"We need to take a good look at the people we consider to be our enemies. A lot of young men fighting us have not done anything wrong. They have anger and grievances, which have not been addressed. The better life they expected has not materialized, these are the people we must talk to, but we must make sure we have something to offer them," The Independent quoted Lamb, as saying.

Lamb further highlighted that the NATO and British forces where not in Afghanistan to give up people's freedom, and said: "What we do have to do is combine new culture and old culture and work out something that works. We will be listening to what our Afghan colleagues say. I will work very closely with them and let them set conditions."

Lamb also said that their primary motive is to bring those Afghanistan citizens back into the society, who have been forced out of their society for no fault of their own.

"Judge us by not just what we say, the promises we make, but what we do, what we deliver at the end," Lamb said. (ANI)