31 May 2017 – Condemning today’s terrorist attack in the Afghan capital, Kabul, the United Nations mission there called on all parties to the conflict to “strictly adhere” to their obligations under international humanitarian law and to take all feasible measures to protect civilians from harm.
“Beyond the immeasurable human suffering caused by today’s attack, the deliberate detonation of a massive truck bomb in a civilian area, particularly during the peaceful month of Ramadan, is morally reprehensible and an outrage,” Tadamichi Yamamoto, the head of the UN Assistance Mission, known as UNAMA, said in a news release.
Hundreds of people – mostly civilians – have been killed and more than 300 injured when a suicide attacker detonated a vehicle-borne explosive device in downtown Kabul’s Wazir Akhbar Khan area, which also houses a number of diplomatic missions, this morning (local time).
Casualty numbers are expected to rise.
In addition to the loss of lives and injuries, the explosion also resulted in considerable damage to the immediate and surrounding, with some embassies being seriously affected.
Further in the news release, Mr. Yamamoto, who is the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, underscored that today’s terrorist attack is a serious violation of humanitarian law.
“There can be no exceptions: the use of explosive weapons in civilian-populated areas must stop.”
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