Thursday, July 15, 2021
Kabul (BNA) In a message on the occasion of National Day of France also known as Bastille Day, the French Ambassador to Kabul David Martinon asked Taliban to put an end to their ongoing military offensive and avoid destruction of vital infrastructures.
“We call the Taliban to put an end to their ongoing military offensive, their continued targeted killings taking place throughout Afghanistan, the destruction of vital infrastructures, and threats and actions against political and social gains Afghans have made over the last twenty years with our support,” the ambassador added.
“Taliban were looting and burning buildings, roads, bridges, destroying vital infrastructure, and damaging communication networks. They are detaining and killing civilians and assaulting correctional facilities. All of this demonstrates the Taliban’s complete disregard for the rule of law,” he said, adding that in the districts they occupy, the Taliban are issuing declarations that repress the human and economic rights of women and girls, and they are shutting down media organizations, in order to diminish freedom of expression and trigger fear in Afghans.
Meanwhile the French Ambassador also said that no one could impose on the Afghan people to renounce the right to a good education and durably prevent them from free expression.
“I know so many of you are worried that their lifestyle, and particularly the rights and liberties you have conquered, and you have enjoyed for the last 20 years, may be at risk. No one can impose on the Afghan people to renounce the right to a good education for everyone, girls as boys, and not only until the age of 12,” Ambassador Martinon said.
He went on saying that no one will ever be in a position to durably prevent the Afghans from their legitimate right to free expression. “Men and women will continue to learn to participate together in the defense and the development of their beloved country, like in the rest of the world.”
He added: “I have been in your beautiful country for almost 3 years, and I can tell that the most encouraging symbol of this new Afghanistan you have built, is the image of all these little girls going to school every morning, wherever I went in the country, in Bamyan, in Herat, in Mazar e Sharif, in Istalef, in Charikar, in Paghman, in the valley of Panjshir or in Kabul City.”
The ambassador said that every 14th of July and since 1789, everywhere in the world, the French people celebrate the beginning of the French revolution, adding this year, again, circumstances prevented them from doing so in Kabul.
“Due to the pandemic of Covid, we can’t get together for real. Most of all, the situation in Afghanistan, with the increasingly high level of violence, and the drought that is impoverishing so many people, would make any celebration inappropriate, in regards to the terrible sufferings of our Afghan friends,” he added.
According to Ambassador, the situation in Afghanistan was difficult, adding “our thoughts go to the brave soldiers who are defending the Islamic Republic and its democratic principles all around their beloved country.”
“The French Embassy is at work, continuing to support the French medical Institute for the mother and the Child in Kabul. In this hospital, the best in town, male and female doctors perform miracles every day on Afghan babies and children who would not survive otherwise,” he continued.
Ambassador Martinon said that they were also preparing the centennial anniversary of official relations with Afghanistan. “No later than 1922, when Amanullah Shah invited French archeologists to Afghanistan to unveil the wonders of Afghan’s incredibly rich historical past, from Alexander the Great to the Buddhist era and the Islamic heritage. We are currently working on the Bala Hissar of Kabul, the Madrasa sultan Hussayn Baïqara of Herat, Haji Piada Mosque in Mazar, the Arch of Bust in Lashkargah, in Helmand, but also in Bamyan and Mes Aynak,” he added, saying that Paris will host an exclusive exhibition of the archeological treasures of Afghanistan, in order to give the world access to the Afghan heritage.
“We are committed to celebrate this event, the centennial anniversary of our friendship, both in Paris and in Kabul, with you, next year,” he concluded as saying.
Yarzada
