10 years: War-weary Afghan long for peace

 

Although Taliban regime was ousted by a U.S.-led invasion 10 years ago, security remains a primary concern for Afghan people including farmers who pray for durable peace in their war-torn country.

10 years: War-weary Afghan long for peace

"We wish for peace, safety and we demand the government and international forces ensure security for citizens all over the country. Enough is enough," Hajji Lal Jan, head of a 500-farmer cooperative in northern Kunduz province, told Xinhua on Friday.

"Exactly ten years ago when the war against the Taliban begun we were hopeful that it will come to an end in one or two years. However, ten years have passed but the situation in Afghanistan is still uncertain," said Jan, 65.

"The extended war is killing the economy and agriculture which some 80 percent of people rely on," said Jan, whose province is well-known for growing rice and fruits.

The overall agricultural production, the backbone of the national economy despite the fact that only 12 percent of its total land is arable and less than six percent currently is cultivated, dramatically declined over the past couple of years due to drought as well as the continued fighting and instability in rural areas.

"Insecurity has remained the main challenge for our daily works, we cannot drive our tractors to carry fertilizer and improved seeds in fear of roadside bombs," Jan said.

Insecurity is a major and growing concern for aid agencies in war-torn Afghanistan, with insurgency and military operations undermining reconstruction efforts and restricting humanitarian assistance in parts of the country.

A survey conducted in 2007-2008 by National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (NRVA), an Afghan government statistic organization financed by European Commission, found that 7.4 million, nearly a-third of the whole population, are unable to get enough food.

"We have enormously suffered from protracted war. I was a farmer and busy in my farmland in my hometown Zabul province years ago,"said Abdul Satar, who currently works as a construction worker in neighboring Kandahar province.

"I have no idea about Oct. 7, but I only know it was the war and drought that caused me to change my occupation," he said.

"Two of my sons who were also busy in farming are currently working in a cookies factory in Kandahar city only for 2,000 Afghanis (41 U.S. dollars) per month each," Satar said.

"Americans need to stay in Afghanistan and recent advancement by government and foreign troops were fragile and reversible," Satar said, "If they (foreign troop) go, internal fighting will resume and many more people will be killed."

"Nearly three million people across Afghanistan are facing severe food shortages as a result of drought," Oxfam, an international charity that focuses on fighting poverty around the world, warned on Thursday as it called on donor governments to act now before the crisis becomes a catastrophe.

The drought is affecting 14 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces in the north, northeast and west of the country where 80 percent of the non-irrigated wheat crop, which people rely on for food and income, has been lost. Many people in these areas were already suffering from chronic hunger. Nearly three quarters of the people living in the affected areas say that they will run out of food in less than two months, according to Oxfam.

"Governments need to wake up to the gravity of this crisis and ensure they are ready to respond before the situation gets worse. Delays will just make things harder for families already struggling to cope. The drought has completely destroyed the wheat crop in some areas. People are reducing the amount of food they are eating and selling what little they have. We still have time to stop this becoming a disaster, but only if we act now." Asuntha Charles, head of Oxfam in Afghanistan said in the statement.

"There have been reports of people trekking nine hours to get clean water and going into debt to ensure their children have food. Donor and aid agencies need to heed these warning signs and ensure that people have the support that they need," Charles added.