Kabul (BNA) Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Haneef Atmar spoke with the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Deborah Lyons here yesterday about current developments, peace talks, rising Taliban attacks on cities, violation of human rights by Taliban, and the group’s crimes against humanity, a MoFA statement said.
Minister Atmar strongly condemned the Taliban attack on the UN office in Herat province. Expressing concern over the escalation of Taliban attacks on populated cities and centers, he called the group’s inhumane crimes intolerable for the people and government of Afghanistan. Minister Atmar called on the international community to prosecute the perpetrators of these war crimes using international arrangements and mechanisms, according to the statement.
Minister Atmar, according to MoFA, also emphasized the role of international institutions, including the International Criminal Court and the United Nations Human Rights Council, in investigating, documenting, and punishing perpetrators of recent war crimes in Afghanistan. Noting that the priority of the Afghan people and government is an immediate ceasefire and reaching a comprehensive peace agreement, Minister Atmar called on the United Nations and the international community to exert maximum pressure on the Taliban to stop killing Afghan people and to agree to a political solution.
Lyons thanked the Afghan security forces for their timely support and response to curb Taliban attacks on the UN Mission in Herat province and expressed grave concern over the escalation of Taliban attacks on cities and killing innocent people.
UNAMA’s Lyons also termed the high level of civilian casualties and potential threats to employees of humanitarian and international organizations as serious causes of failure of humanitarian aid and development projects, stressing the need to stop it immediately.
