UNITED NATIONS, May 26: The Taliban must immediately stop its undeclared offensive against civilians and civilian structures in Afghanistan, US Acting Alternate Representative for Special Political Affairs to the United Nations Jeffrey DeLaurentis said during a UN Security Council meeting.
“The Taliban, which is largely responsible for the continued violence in Afghanistan, must immediately stop its undeclared spring offensive, refrain from attacks against civilians, and cease its attacks in the vicinity of hospitals, schools, universities, mosques and other civilian areas,” DeLaurentis said on Tuesday.
The diplomat pointed out that explicit targeting of civilians and attacks on journalists, human rights defenders, health workers and children undermine progress toward a sustainable peace in the country.
Afghanistan is still witnessing hostilities between government forces and the Taliban, who control large rural territories in the Central Asian country.
In February 2020, the United States and the Taliban signed the first peace agreement in eighteen years, which envisions the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan and the launch of the intra-Afghan dialogue, started in September 2020 in Doha, in an effort to put an end to the armed conflict.
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