The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will hold a meeting on Friday under the Indian Presidency to address the escalation of hostilities in Afghanistan as foreign forces are withdrawing from the war-torn country.
New York [US], August 6 : “UN Security Council will meet on Friday, 6th August, under Indian Presidency to discuss and take stock of the situation in Afghanistan,” tweeted India’s Permanent Representative to United Nations, TS Tirumurti on Thursday. India on Sunday assumed the rotating presidency of the UNSC. Earlier on Tuesday, Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammed Haneef Atmar spoke to his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar about convening an emergency UN Security Council session on the current Afghanistan situation. The Afghan foreign ministry said Atmar talked about the escalating violence by the Taliban and foreign terrorist groups in Afghanistan and called for a meeting of the UNSC to discuss the situation. The meeting will, for the first time, see the participation of the new Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations, Ghulam Isaczai. The diplomat will also make a press statement following the council’s discussions, Sputnik reported. The meet comes a week after the attack on the United Nations compound in Herat during which an Afghan security guard was killed and several other people were injured. The members of the UNSC condemned the attack against a United Nations compound in Herat, Afghanistan, which claimed the life of Afghan security forces guard and injured other officers. Afghanistan is witnessing a massive surge in violence as foreign forces are withdrawing from the country. Taliban has intensified attacks on Afghan forces and civilians as it is making advances in the country. Several cities in Afghanistan have fallen to the Taliban in recent weeks and fighting in several others have escalated as the terror group attempt to gain control of them. Recently, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has said civilian casualties in Afghanistan in the first half of 2021 reached record levels with over 1,659 people killed and 3,254 others wounded. In a new report issued last month, the United Nations warned that without a significant de-escalation in violence Afghanistan is on course for 2021 to witness the highest ever number of documented civilian casualties in a single year since the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) records began.
