President Ashraf Ghani attended a consultative meeting with prominent Afghan political and jihadi leaders, religious scholars, women, and civil society and youth representatives on Saturday, the Presidential Palace said.

Abdullah Abdullah, head of the High Council for National Reconciliation, former jihadi leader Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf, former vice president Mohammad Karim Khalili, heads of security agencies and other officials had attended the meeting.

Ghani said that in this meeting, the attendants unanimously declared their unwavering support for Afghanistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

These leaders also declared their full support for Afghan Security and Defense Forces in the presence of the country’s security leadership. While stressing the urgency for peace, all agreed that defending Afghanistan is our fundamental right, Ghani said.

A statement by the Presidential Palace reads that they agreed on efforts to an end to violence and achieve peace, defend the country, national sovereignty, national institutions, shared values, women’s rights and all other freedoms mentioned in the Constitution.

They also agreed to further strengthen people’s uprisings in defending the country.

This comes as violence remains high in the country in the last two months. And meanwhile, the peace process has made no progress during this time.