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Feature: Afghans celebrate New Year hoping for lasting peace

Xinhua,March 22, 2018 Adjust font size:

by Abdul Haleem

KABUL, March 22 (Xinhua) -- "I am very hopeful that Nawroz or the New Year of 1397, will be the year of peace, the end of war and above all the year of returning and lasting peace to Afghanistan," Kabul resident Mohammad Haroon told Xinhua on Wednesday.

March 21 is the start of the new solar year known as Nawroz which is celebrated in Afghanistan and some of the neighboring countries including Iran and Tajikistan.

Afghans from all walks of life throughout their insurgency-plagued country have celebrated Nawroz in splendid way by going to shrines, recreational centers, parks, holding meetings, conferences, organizing traditional sports events including wrestling and attending music and stage shows amid tight security in Kabul and other cities.

Wearing new clothes and visiting Ziarat-e-Sakhi, a well-known shrine on the western edge of Kabul city, Haroon, 30, said happily that the "sunny day and peaceful Nawroz could be a good omen for the whole year and gives a message that the year of 1397 is the year of peace in Afghanistan."

Kabul and several more parts of Afghanistan experienced rain for days before Wednesday, the first day of Nawroz or New Year in Afghanistan, but Wednesday was sunny across the country.

Under clear skies, a sunny, peaceful atmosphere and amid a friendly environment, thousands of people from all walks of life got together and celebrate Nawroz here in Ziarat-e-Sakhi.

"All were speaking of their hope for good luck this year that would see an end of war and the return of enduring peace in the year of 1397," another joyful Kabul resident, Ali Reza, told Xinhua with optimism.

Expressing his hatred towards war and civil strife, the tired but hopeful Reza said the protracted war has virtually devoured Afghanistan and left Afghans in the lurch.

The lingering crisis and endemic civil strife in Afghanistan have claimed countless lives and crippled countless others, mostly civilians, for more than three decades.

More than 3,500 civilians including women and children had been killed and around 7,000 others wounded in the ongoing insurgency and conflicts in Afghanistan in 2017 alone, according to a United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reports released in February.

"The Taliban should accept the government's offer for talks to find a negotiated settlement to the country's prolonged war and instability," a local lady, opting not to share her name, told Xinhua.

While holding the hands of her two children and enjoying the Nawroz festival in a park on the northern edge of Kabul city, the lady said softly, "Enough is enough. The Taliban should understand that war is no longer justifiable.

"It is the time for Afghans to come together and work towards the development of their own country in unity," she said.

Nawroz is a public holiday in Afghanistan and all the state-run and private media outlets by broadcasting live entertainment programs including music and stage shows, do their best to keep the war-battered Afghans happy.

In a short speech delivered on Wednesday, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani expressed hope that the year of 1397 would be the "year of peace, development and prosperity" in Afghanistan. Enditem