UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council late Friday “condemned in the strongest terms the horrific attack” on a Lebanese restaurant in the Afghan capital Kabul earlier in the day.
The attack killed at least 16 Afghan and foreign nationals, including four UN civilian staff, and injured scores more.
Such targeted attacks, later claimed by the Taliban, are “completely unacceptable” and are in flagrant breach of international humanitarian law. “They must stop immediately,” the UN press office said in a statement. Ban’s statement was echoed by the Security Council whose members also “condemned in the strongest terms” the Kabul terrorist attack.
The Council stressed that “no terrorist act can reverse the path towards Afghan-led peace, democracy and stability in Afghanistan, which is supported by the people and the Government of Afghanistan and the international community.
” The Council reiterated its steadfast support for the role of the United Nations and United Nations-affiliated organizations in Afghanistan, and reiterated its “serious concern” at the threats posed by the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and illegal armed groups to the local population, national security forces, and international military and international assistance efforts in Afghanistan.
The Council underlined the need to bring perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these “reprehensible” acts of terrorism to justice, and urged all States to cooperate actively with the Afghan authorities in this regard.
It once again reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations is “criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of its motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed, and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group.” The Council also reaffirmed the need and reiterated its determination to combat the scourge by all means.
KUNA
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