Less than half all Afghans (46 percent) say foreign forces should fully leave Afghanistan after a peace deal with the Taliban is reached, according to a survey released on Thursday.
The survey by the country’s Institute of War and Peace Studies covered more than 5,000 Afghans and included 60 percent rural people and 35 percent female respondents from all the 34 provinces of the country.
One-third (33 percent) say foreign forces should not leave while 21 percent want them to leave partially, according to the survey.
An overwhelming majority of respondents (80 percent) believe a political settlement is the solution to the conflict, while 20 percent believe in military means.
Asked who should lead peace talks with the Taliban, 65 percent said it should be the government, while 21 percent said non-governmental actors.
To a question where the talks should be held, 61 percent said Afghanistan.
Respondents were also asked about the presence of women in peace talks, 83 percent of whom supported their presence.
The survey is released at a time when the US and the Taliban are nearing a peace agreement.
Speaking at the event to release the findings of the survey, Amrullah Saleh, a former intelligence chief who is running for President Ghani’s first vice-president, said that US-Taliban talks may put an end to their fighting but not to that against Afghans.
“Even if the US-Taliban talks end successfully, it will spoil the balance of military power,” Saleh said.
“No foreigners can reflect our interests in the negotiations with Taliban and no foreigners can impose their deal on us,” Saleh said.
