UN condemns deadly attack in Kabul as "grave violation" of international law

A deadly vehicle bomb attack in central Kabul, Afghanistan, has been condemned by the UN as a "clear violation of international humanitarian law".

News reports say that at least 95 were killed and more than 150 injured on a busy street after a vehicle painted to look like an ambulance, was detonated by a suicide bomber at a check point.

The head of the UN Mission in the country (UNAMA), Tadamichi Yamamoto, said that disguising the vehicle as an ambulance, "including bearing the distinctive medical emblem", was "nothing short of an atrocity".

The Taliban has said it was responsible for carrying out the attack.

The Secretary-General said from Addis Ababa that indiscriminate attacks against civilians represented "grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law and can never be justified."

Those responsible "must be brought to justice", he added.

Meanwhile, Save the Children has suspended operations across Afghanistan as the Islamic State militants terrorised staff trapped inside one of its offices in a deadly hours-long attack, the latest assault on a foreign charity.

Gunmen blasted their way into the British aid group's compound in the eastern city of Jalalabad, killing employees and wounding  others, Save the Children said in a statement.

The assault on Save the Children, which has operated in Afghanistan since 1976, is the latest violence to hit a foreign aid group in the country.

Afghanistan recorded the second highest number of attacks against aid workers worldwide in 2016, according to UK-based research group Humanitarian Outcomes. Only South Sudan was more dangerous.

The International Committee of the Red Cross announced in October it would "drastically" reduce its presence in Afghanistan after seven employees were killed in attacks last year.



UN Radio/GBCONLINE
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