Antonio Guterres has strongly slammed Friday’s deadly attack in Kabul, expressing solidarity with the people of Afghanistan. As the UN Secretary-General stressed, any ‘attacks against civilians are unacceptable’.
The terrorist attack hit the meeting with some 1,000 participants who were attending the ceremony to commemorate Abdul Ali Mazari, ex-leader of the Hezb-e Wahdat-e Islami political party. He died in March 1995. Twenty-five years after his death, more than 30 people were killed when gunmen opened fire during a commemorative event.
On Saturday, Chief Executive, Abdullah Abdullah, and former President Hamid Karzai also attended the ceremony.
“The Secretary-General reiterates that attacks against civilians are unacceptable and those who carry out such crimes must be held accountable”, the official statement released by the UN SG’s spokesperson said.
The United Nations condemns this act of atrocity and stands with all Afghans in solidarity, Mr Guterres said and added the international fora remains committed to an Afghan-led peace process that will end the armed conflict in the Middle Eastern country.
UNAMA’s representative expressed condolences to the victims of Kabul attack
UN Special Representative for Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, stated that organizers of terroristic attack must be brought to justice and held to account.
Being the head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Yamamoto explained that Mazari holds special significance to the country’s Hazara and Shia Muslim communities.
According to the UNAMA human rights officers, there were several previous attacks deliberately carried out against these communities. The security officers are looking into the incident to establish additional facts, including the group responsible.
“Attacks directed against Afghanistan’s civilian population, including religious or ethnic minorities, are serious violations of international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes. When committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, such acts may also constitute crimes against humanity”, a statement from the UNAMA said.
