UN urgently calls for an end to violence amid talk of civil war
Secretary-general Antonio Guterres makes the clarion call in a report to the Security Council on the Afghan crisis that has yet to be released
KABUL/UNITED NATIONS: UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has called for an end to violence in Afghanistan amid fears of a new civil war, now that the Taliban group has seized power.
“I call for an immediate end to violence, for the safety, security and rights of all Afghans to be respected, and for adherence to Afghanistan’s international obligations, including all international agreements to which it is a party,” Guterres said in a report to the UN Security Council this weekend.
The document, which was obtained by AFP, has not yet been released publicly.
“I urge the Taliban and all other parties to exercise utmost restraint to protect lives and to ensure that humanitarian needs can be met,” Guterres said.
The report was compiled as the mandate of the UN political mission in Afghanistan is scheduled to expire on September 17. The UN had said that Afghanistan is mired in a humanitarian crisis affecting 18 million people, or half the population.
UN aid efforts can finance help for only 38% of the country’s population, so the world body urgently needs nearly $800 million, the report says.
“I call on all donors to renew their support so that life-saving response is urgently scaled-up, delivered on time and suffering is mitigated,” said Guterres, who has convened an international aid conference for Afghanistan in Geneva for September 13.
He also called on countries to take in Afghan refugees and refrain from deporting any they might already be hosting.
Some domestic flights have resumed at Kabul airport, with the state-run Ariana Afghan Airline operating flights to three provinces.
Shershah Stor, the airline’s station manager, told AP the flights took place on Saturday to Herat, Kandahar and Balkh provinces. But he added that they were conducted without a functioning radar system at the airport.
Taliban accused of killing pregnant cop: BBC report
The BBC reported on Sunday that Taliban fighters gunned down a policewoman who was pregnant, citing witnesses. The woman, named in the local media as Banu Negar, was shot dead at home in front of her relatives in Ghor province’s Firozkoh city, according to the report.
The Taliban group later told the BBC that its members were not involved in her death, but a probe was under way. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujaheed said, according to the report, that he was “aware of the incident and I am confirming that the Taliban have not killed her”.