UN Security Council strongly condemns attack on UN facility in Kabul

UN Security Council Wednesday condemned "in the strongest terms" the deadly attack on a UN guesthouse in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, which killed five UN staff and injured many others.

In a statement read to reporters by Vietnam's UN Ambassador Le Luong Minh, the current council president, the Security Council expressed condolences to the families of the victims, and reiterated "steadfast support for the role of the United Nations in Afghanistan."

The members of the Security Council noted with serious concern that the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks, Minh said, adding they strongly condemned the attempt, "in particular by the Taliban to disrupt the electoral process and instablize the situation in Afghanistan."

"The Security Council underlined the need to bring perpetrators, organizers financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism to justice," Minh said, urging all states to cooperate actively with the Afghan authorities in the regard.

He said the 15-member council reiterated their determination to combat all forms of terrorism, adding that "no terrorist act can reverse the path towards peace, democracy and reconstruction in Afghanistan."

Taliban forces besieged a guesthouse in central Kabul early Wednesday morning, killing 12 people and injured many others. The guesthouse was known for housing employees of humanitarian and UN agencies.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also strongly slammed "the despicable and brutal killing" on Wednesday, saying he was "deeply shocked and outraged by the cowardly attack."

Source: Xinhua