Thousands march for peace in Afghanistan

Several thousand people, most of them children, marched for peace on Sept. 20 in a western Afghan city on the eve of the International Day of Peace. The march, organized by the Afghan Red Crescent Society, filled streets in Herat city for more than two hours in one of the biggest rallies the country has seen. Red Crescent Secretary General Fatima Gilani, who led the march, said it was the first time that Afghans were marking the International Day of Peace, which is held every year on September 21 and is aimed at ushering in a global ceasefire. The United Nations, which established the annual observance, has placed its focus on this year's activities on Afghanistan, where the day is to be marked with prayers, media programmes, humanitarian drives and cultural activities across the country. The large march in Herat was a rarity in Afghanistan. The demonstrators shouted slogans for ending the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan and carried placards in support of peace. They later convened to listen to Gilani, the provincial governor and local officials of the United Nations office there. Afghanistan has seen about three decades of war, turning the country into one of the world's poorest and most backward nations. As the Afghan government prepared for marking the Day of Peace, concerns were still growing about increasing violence and daily battles between Taliban insurgents on one side and government and foreign forces on the other.