Ban condemns attack on Afghan restaurant

UN chief Ban Ki-moon today strongly condemned the terrorist attack on a restaurant in Afghanistan which killed 16 people, including four UN staff.
The UN Secretary-General condemned in the "strongest terms the horrific attack" at a restaurant in central Kabul yesterday, a statement issued by his spokesperson said.
"Such targeted attacks against civilians are completely unacceptable and are in flagrant breach of international humanitarian law. They must stop immediately," the statement said.
Apart from the four UN personnel, an IMF representative and other foreign nationals were also killed in the attack claimed by the Taliban.
In a press statement, the powerful UN Security Council reiterated its serious concern at the threats posed by the Taliban, al-Qaeda and illegal armed groups to the local population, national security forces, and international military and international assistance efforts in Afghanistan.

"The members of the Security Council underlined the need to bring perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism to justice, and urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with the Afghan authorities in this regard," the statement said.

The 15-nation Council said that no terrorist act can reverse the path towards Afghan-led peace, democracy and stability in Afghanistan, which is supported by the people and the Government of Afghanistan and the international community.
Deploring the attack in the "strongest terms", the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said it is seeking to verify the status of all UN personnel and reiterated its condemnation of attacks that deliberately target civilians as gross violations of international humanitarian law.

"This violence is unacceptable and must stop immediately," UNAMA head Jan Kubis said in a statement.
In his latest quarterly report on the UNAMA to the Security Council last month, Kubis had said that Afghanistan continues to make progress in enhancing its stability ahead of the withdrawal by the end of this year of the international forces that have sought to bring security there for the past 12 years.
He, however, warned that international support would be required through at least another decade for the ambitious security, political and economic transformations envisaged for a country that has known little peace or stability for over the past 35 years.