Afghanistan Times
Related Articles
AT Monitoring Desk-KABUL: Senior United Nations officials, including Secretary-General António Guterres, have strongly condemned the attack on a hotel in Kabul.
In a statement, UN Secretary-General Guterres offered his deepest condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to those injured.
“He expresses his solidarity with the Government and people of Afghanistan,” added the statement.
The Intercontinental Hotel was scheduled to hold a technology conference on January 21, organized by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
According to UNAMA, in claiming responsibility, the Taliban stated five attackers entered the hotel to target Afghan officials and foreign nationals.
UNAMA head Tadamichi Yamamoto said it was a “moral outrage that the Taliban entered the hotel with the intention of killing civilians.”
He underscored the obligation on all parties to the conflict to respect International Humanitarian Law at all times.
“There is simply no justification for this egregious attack, which is specifically prohibited by International Humanitarian Law and may amount to a war crime.”
Meanwhile, India also denounced the attack, expressing its condolences to the families of those killed and wishing speedy recovery to the injured.
The External Affairs Ministry said reports about the attack having being carried out by the proscribed Haqqani Network were a matter of serious concern.
It added the incident had brought to fore once again the need to effectively deal with safe havens and sanctuaries that these terrorists find in our shared neighbourhood.
“We commend the professionalism and bravery of the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces in saving the lives of hundreds of civilians from this gruesome attack.”
“India stands in solidarity with the government and the people of Afghanistan in bringing the perpetrators of these terrorist attacks and their supporters to justice.”
