?Afghan peace marchers arrive in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, after walking 700km, June 18, 2018. An Afghan peace activists' convoy of more than 70 youth, calling for an end to war, have arrived in the capital Kabul, after starting a foot journey from the southern Helmand province and trekking several provinces, a member said Monday. (Xinhua/Rahmat Alizadah)
KABUL, June 18 (Xinhua) -- An Afghan peace activists' convoy of more than 70 youth, calling for an end to war, have arrived in the capital Kabul, after starting a foot journey from the southern Helmand province and trekking several provinces, a member said Monday.
The group initially launched a sit in protest demanding an end to the war after a suicide car bombing killed 16 civilians and injured 55 others near a sport stadium in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helamnd on March 23.
However, they began the foot journey toward Kabul at early May.
The aim of the journey that took up to 700 km to walk in 37 days, was to meet Afghan authorities and discuss cease-fire and lasting peace in the country, Jamal Nasir, 30, who joined the convoy in eastern Ghazni province told Xinhua.
"None of us will return home unless peace was restored in Afghanistan," he warned.
A Kabul resident Mohammad Nasir Hakimzada, 28, who was presenting flower wreath to the members of the convoy, in Kabul, told Xinhua that the convoy members have done great work, their target was peace and giving a small branch of flower was a small thing to do for them.
Bacha Khan Mavlana, a member and one of the key leaders in charges of the Peace Convoy, native to the largely Taliban controlled Helmand province, told Xinhua that they had sent a written letter to the two sides of conflict to set a truce and end the long war and bloodshed, but none of them gave positive response.
"We began the march in Helmand, where we were only eight members, but en route to Kabul, the number reached to 72," he said.
The peaceful protest march picked up supporters during the long journey and arrived in the relatively peaceful Afghan capital after a three-day holiday cease-fire that brought rare calm to most of the Afghan citizens.
The short cease-fire encouraged the Afghan government main rival Taliban to enter the big cities including the capital, where they could visit their relatives and shake hand and hug Afghan security forces, sending an unprecedented hope and peace message to the war-weary nation.
In his Eid-ul-Fitr address, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on Friday urged Kabul citizens to warmly welcome the peace activists coming from Helmand upon reaching the capital.
However, two joint gathering of the Taliban and the Afghan security forces have been blown up in eastern province of Nangarhar and Saturday and Sunday, leaving dozens, including several civilians, dead or injured.
The Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the incidents.
Although, the government had offered extension of the cease-fire, but the Taliban announced Sunday that the truce would end by the evening of the last day of Eid-ul-Fitr which falls on Sunday, and their fighters would return to their positions to resume their fighting.
The violence has been on the rise as Afghan security forces struggle against a surge in attacks by anti-government fighters since the drawdown of foreign forces within the past three years.
More than 760 civilians were killed and over 1,490 others injured in conflict-related incidents in the first three months of the year in the war-torn country, according to figures released by the United Nations mission in the country.
