Helmand peace activists reject Taliban's allegations

 Kabul [Afghanistan]: The Helmand peace activists on Tuesday rebuffed Taliban's allegations that their campaign is fabricated by the United States, asking the Taliban to provide sufficient evidence for such claims.

Head of the peace convoy, Iqbal Khyber, said they are ready to appear in the Taliban court if the insurgent group can gather sufficient evidence if the activists had the support of other countries.

Khyber vowed to give an appropriate response to Taliban's claims within next five days.

"This movement is completely people-oriented and there are no foreign hands behind the initiative. Sixty percent of our journey lied in areas either under the control or influence of the Taliban and we met them (Taliban) during the march. If this movement was fabricated by the US, why you (Taliban) did not realize it before?" Tolo News quoted Khyber as saying.

The Taliban said it sees the Helmand peace march as a conspiracy which has been fabricated by the United States and implemented by the High Peace Council (HPC).

This comes two days after members of the Helmand peace convoy marched through the streets of Kabul and reached the United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA) compound for a sit-in protest outside embassies and diplomatic missions.

Khyber said that if the UN shows a serious commitment towards Afghanistan, peace and security can be easily restored.

After having walked for 38 days to reach Kabul, the members of the Helmand Peace Convoy on June 18 finally reached Afghanistan's capital.

The activists covered over 700km and travelled through war-weary Kandahar, Zabul and Ghazni provinces.