Afghanistan’s High Peace Council and the Ulema Council held a joint press conference in Kabul on Monday where the HPC secretariat said government’s recent peace offer to the Taliban now has widespread support including that of the country’s Ulema.

Mohammad Akram Khpalwak, head of HPC's secretariat and the President's Senior Political Adviser, said the peace offer had the support of the youth, civil society, volunteer groups and the Ulema.

He also said the HPC has held meetings around the country and has garnered support from provincial Ulema councils.

Khpalwak said the HPC will expand peace programs from districts through to villages.

According to him the Taliban has still not responded to the peace offer make by President Ashraf Ghani at last month’s Kabul Process meeting but that the HPC had picked up a number of signals that has given the council hope.

He meanwhile called on the Taliban to send representatives to the upcoming Ulema peace conference in Jakarta in Indonesia later this month.

This comes after reports emerged recently that the Taliban sent a message to Islamic scholars calling on them not to participate in the Jakarta conference.

Khpalwak also rejected rumors of government's intention to hand over parts of the country to the Taliban and said this was not in the peace plan.

Mawlawi Enayatullah Baligh, a member of the Ulema Council, also addressed the press conference and welcomed the government’s peace offer. He praised the HPC for its efforts to deliver the message to the nation and the world.

“The Afghanistan Ulema council and all those Ulema who are not present in the council, by holding meetings and preparing programs across the country, have welcomed the peace message and called for the wellbeing of the nation and humanity,” said Baligh.

“Proposals made by president Ghani at the Kabul process conference, from my point of view, there is no reason left for not accepting the offer and I hope that all parties involved carry out their responsibility in this national and religious process,” Baligh added.