Monday, July 27, 2020
Kabul (BNA) Office of the Afghanistan National Security Council (NSC) note the midyear report by UNAMA and underscore that Government’s findings from the field demonstrate that the Taliban are responsible for the vast majority of the civilian casualties in Afghanistan, either directly or by creating an enabling environment for other terrorist groups to attack civilians.
NSC in a statement said, given the concerns regarding the nature of this report, we remain committed to working with UNAMA in refining its findings to better reflect the battlefield statistics.
The recent upsurge in Taliban attacks and violence against civilians come after their commitment to decreasing violence in the U.S.-Taliban deal in Doha, the statement added.
To protect civilians from violence and fight COVID-19, and to help the peace efforts lead to success, we yet again invite Taliban to a lasting ceasefire and the immediate start of direct talks, the statement further added.
According to the statement, the Government maintained a defensive posture for months during which, the Taliban continued their violence against the people and infrastructure of Afghanistan.
ANDSF have clear orders from the President and security-sector leaders to continue to implement the procedures and policies in place to mitigate harm to civilian lives and property, the statement concluded.
