Publish dateMonday 13 May 2019 - 14:47
Story Code : 184983
UNAMA concerned about civilian harm from increased violence in Afghanistan during Ramadan
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) issued a statement on Monday expressing "grave concern" about the impact on civilians from the increase in violence around the country during the first week of the holy month of Ramadan.

The statement condemned the Taliban for incidents in which civilians have been deliberately targeted, including the 8 May attack in Kabul against aid group Counterpart International that killed six civilians and injured a further 28.
“There can be absolutely no justification for deliberate or indiscriminate attacks against civilians,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan.“The main victims of the attack were Afghans,” said Yamamoto, who is also the head of UNAMA. “It is particularly egregious that a premeditated act of extreme violence was conducted against a development agency where civilians were striving to improve the lives of all citizens.”
The statement cited also a suicide attack by Taliban on the eve of Ramadan against the Afghan police headquarters in Baghlan capital Pul-e-Khumri, which caused many civilian casualties including women and children.
These two attacks in civilian-populated urban centres took place against a background of widespread reports of a recent intensification of the conflict in various regions of the country, as well as multiple claims that civilians are paying a heavy price, UNAMA said in the statement.
UNAMA is actively looking into allegations of civilian casualties resulting from International Military Forces’ aerial operations in Farah and Nimroz provinces against reported drug manufacturing
facilities. The locations are not easily accessible and there are numerous operational challenges to the verification of civilian status of persons allegedly harmed by these operations, the statement said.
UNAMA reiterated call for parties to the conflict to halt fighting during Ramadan and uphold their obligations to protect civilians from harm.
 
Source : Afghan Voice Agency(AVA)
https://avapress.com/vdcc40qs12bq4o8.-ya2.html
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