A key member of Jamiat-e-Islami party and former minister of energy and water, Mohammad Ismail Khan, says the representatives of the party have asked the president not to dissolve the High Peace Council and to ensure a peace negotiations team is not a parallel body to the HPC.

According to the Presidential Palace, President Ashraf Ghani has started consultations with political parties and former jihadi leaders over the formation of a negotiations team on peace.

As the discussions over peace heat up both in government and on an international level, the Wolesi Jirga’s Speaker Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi addressed MPs on Saturday and said peace cannot be achieved by “begging” and argued that Taliban should be brought to the negotiations table by using military pressure.

Ibrahimi said the current situation in the country should be addressed by government, as according to him, people will lose hope in the administration if challenges remain unaddressed.