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In light of UN Peace Day on 21 September, The United Nations Assitance Mission in Afghanistan called for a total cessation of violence in the country. While NATO agrees with the principle of Peace Day, the ISAF mission devotes itself to creating peace in Afghanistan 365 days a year under a UN mandate. The following quote from the NATO Spokesperson explains ISAF's position not to cease operations.

James Appathurai on UN Peace Day:

We are [in Afghanistan] to help the elected government establish peace in their country. We do peace every day and we do it on a UN mandate. We believe that taking 24 hours off would have implied that what we’re doing now isn’t in support of peace. The UN Security Council renewed the mandate of our mission precisely because it is there to create peace. That is the job that the UN has once again assigned to NATO. So what we do everyday in the service of the International Community is to create peace in Afghanistan and to stop doing that, would to our mind, give exactly the wrong message.