U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the Taliban Friday to immediately halt their military offensive and negotiate in good faith for the sake of Afghanistan and its people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe message from the international community to those on the warpath must be clear:\u00a0Seizing power through military force is a losing proposition,\u201d Guterres told reporters. \u201cThat can only lead to prolonged civil war or to the complete isolation of Afghanistan.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.N. chief said the country is \u201cspinning out of control\u201d as the Taliban have seized about half of Afghanistan\u2019s 34 provincial capitals and have their sights on the capital, Kabul.<\/p>\n
\u201cContinued urban conflict will mean continued carnage \u2013 with civilians paying the highest price,\u201d he warned, calling on all parties to do more to protect civilians.<\/p>\n
The United Nations says\u00a0more than 1,000 civilians have been killed or injured in the past month in indiscriminate attacks, especially in Helmand,\u00a0Kandahar\u00a0and Herat provinces.\u00a0Nearly a quarter of a million others have been displaced by the fighting.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly an Afghan-led negotiated political settlement can ensure peace,\u201d Guterres said, urging substantive discussions between representatives of the Taliban and the government. Talks between the two sides have been taking place in Doha, Qatar.<\/p>\n
Human rights<\/p>\n
\u201cI am also deeply disturbed by\u00a0early indications that the Taliban are imposing severe restrictions on human rights in the areas under their control, particularly targeting women\u00a0and journalists,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is particularly horrifying and heartbreaking to see reports of the hard-won rights of Afghan girls and women being ripped away from them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier Friday, Guterres\u2019 spokesperson said that the United Nations had no plans to leave the country despite the rapidly deteriorating security situation.<\/p>\n
“There is no evacuation of U.N. staff going on,\u201d Stephane Dujarric told reporters.<\/p>\n
He said the organization was evaluating the security situation \u201cliterally on an hour-by-hour basis,\u201d and assessing where it might be able to lighten its footprint, but that aid continued to be delivered to a number of places, including Kabul.<\/p>\n
The United Nations has about 3,000 national staff and 300 international staff working in the country. Another 420 international staff have been working remotely outside the country because of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Source: Voice of America<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the Taliban Friday to immediately halt their military offensive and negotiate in good faith for the sake of Afghanistan and its people.\u201cThe message from the international community to those on the warpa…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n