UN deplores deadly attack in Afghanistan, killing scores and injuring many others

Kabul, Afghanistan. (file)

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemned on Thursday, a fatal attack on a Mosque in the capital, Kabul.

“We deplore yesterday’s attack in a Kabul Mosque, the latest in a disturbing series of bombings which have killed & injured more than 250 people in recent weeks, the highest monthly number of civilian casualties over the last year,” UNAMA said in a short statement posted on Twitter.

On Wednesday, news media cited police in reporting that a huge explosion ripped through the crowded mosque during evening prayers, injuring 33 people and killing another 21, including the mosque’s imam, Amir Muhammad Kabuli.

While the blast scene in Kabul has been sealed off, it remains unclear who was behind the attack.

End terrorism

Amidst the deteriorating security situation in the country, the UN calls on the de facto Taliban authorities to “take concrete steps” to prevent all forms of terrorism in Afghanistan.

“Vulnerable communities should be provided additional support & perpetrators brought to justice,” spelled out UNAMA.

“We extend our deepest sympathies to the families of the killed and a speedy recovery to the injured.”

Taliban versus Da’esh

This latest bombing in Kabul comes days after the suicide bombing assassination of Rahimullah Haqqani, a prominent cleric who supported the Taliban and was in favour of female education. The Da’esh terrorist network claimed responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, news agencies have reported that senior Taliban officials are meeting today with more than 2,000 tribal and religious elders in Afghanistan’s second city Kandahar to take “important decisions”.

Taliban under scrutiny

Just last week, a group of UN independent rights experts had urged the global community to dramatically increase efforts to encourage the de facto authorities in the country to adhere to basic human rights principles.

“The future is immensely bleak for Afghans if more is not done by the international community to ensure the Taliban changes its modus operandi and complies with its human rights obligations,” they had said in a statement. 

Amidst a “plethora” of human rights violations, the Taliban has virtually erased women and girls from society.  

“Nowhere else in the world has there been as wide-spread, systematic and all-encompassing an attack on the rights of women and girls – every aspect of their lives is being restricted under the guise of morality and through the instrumentalization of religion. Discrimination and violence cannot be justified on any ground,” they had detailed.