The Afghan government has mounted a fresh appeal to global powers urging them to adopt a “clear stance” to stop Pakistan and Taliban in their tracks to prevent the massacre of civilians in the country on an industrial scale.
As the Taliban accelerates its attacks on civilian population centres across the country, a senior Afghan official is asking world powers as to what is stopping them from preventing a bloodbath where non-combatants will mainly suffer.
"Afghanistan is going through an unprecedented wave of mass killing, looting and destruction. What is stopping the world from taking a clear stance and forcing Pakistan and the Taliban to stop it? This madness needs to be stopped before it's too late," said Waheed Omer, a senior official in the Afghan government, in a conversation with TOLO news.
The US embassy in Afghanistan condemned the "the unlawful seizure of Zaranj, the capital of Afghanistan's Nimroz province, the attack on Sheberghan, capital of Jowzjan province yesterday and today, and continuing efforts to take over Lashkar Gah in Helmand and provincial capitals elsewhere."
Also read: India draws world attention to bloodbath in Afghanistan by chairing special UNSC session
The Afghan official’s exhortation of the world community to act follows a compelling presentation of the disastrous situation in Afghanistan following the Pak-Taliban offensive, by Afghan Ambassador to the UN, Ghulam Isaczai.
"Should members of the Security Council want that evidence, we are ready to provide them," Isaczai said, referring to the Pakistani sponsorship of the Taliban offensive during the special session on Afghanistan on Friday at the UN Security Council, which India had chaired.
"In a deliberate act of barbarism Taliban isn't alone. They're assisted by foreign fighters from transnational terrorist networks. Together they are threatening peace, security and stability in Afghanistan and also in our region and beyond, Isaczai observed.
“It is, therefore, time for the international community and, in particular, this Council to take stock of the situation, and decide on actions that would help bring a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire and ensure an immediate cessation of violence,” asserted TS Tirumurti, India’s envoy to the UN.
Deborah Lyons, Special Representative of UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan summed up the session by warning that Afghanistan is a point of inflection. “Afghanistan is at a dangerous turning point. In the past weeks, Afghanistan has entered a new destructive phase. Taliban has achieved significant territorial gains,” she observed. Lyons urged the UNSC to seize the opportunity and demonstrate commitment “to prevent Afghanistan from descending into a situation of catastrophe so serious that it would have few, if any, parallels this century.”
India on its part has urged an immediate and permanent ceasefire to prevent the aggravation of a humanitarian disaster.
India’s permanent representative to the UN, TS Tirumurti urged the UNSC to “decide on actions” to convey an everlasting and complete ceasefire and guarantee a direct cessation of violence in Afghanistan, which, it warned, posed a “serious threat” to regional peace and security.
