Tirumurti condemns terrorist attack in Kabul at UNSC and extends condolences to the families of the victims of the attack, reports Arul Louis
India has called for a unified global stand against terrorism-enablers while condemning the terrorist attacks in Kabul that wounded nearly 150 people.
“Today’s attacks reinforce the need for the world to stand unitedly against terrorism, and all those who provide sanctuaries to terrorists,” India’s Permanent Representative T.S. Tirumurti said on Thursday.
While “strongly condemning” the terrorist attack in Kabul India extends “heartfelt condolences” to the families of the victims of the attack, he said as he presided over a meeting of the Security Council.
Nearly 150 people were reported wounded in the suicide bombing at an entrance to the airport where a large crowd of people were waiting for a chance to be airlifted from the country now under the Taliban.
At least 12 US military personnel died in the attack and 15 were injured, according to US General Kenneth McKenzie, who attributed the attack to the Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K) terror organisation.
The airport is under the control of the US military, which is facilitating the evacuation of US citizens and others wanting to leave the country.
There was also another explosion at a hotel near the airport.
Earlier outside the Security Council, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters in a voice choking with emotion: “I want to express in the strongest possible way, the total condemnation of the horrific terrorist attack in Kabul.”
“I want to send my condolences to the families of all those that perished, Afghans (and) all those who need not be there (but) who died saving the lives of others,” he said.
His spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, “This incident underscores the volatility of the situation on the ground in Afghanistan but also strengthens our resolve as we continue to deliver urgent assistance across the country in support of the Afghan people.”
Guterres is scheduled to meet on Monday with the five permanent members of the UN — Britain, China, France, Russia and the US, and the worsening Afghan situation is expecting to figure in their discussion.
General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir called the bombings a “grotesque development” that “will only complicate and debilitate efforts, among others, at evacuations” of people from Afghanistan.
“Violence, the threat of terrorism, an unstable security situation and growing civilian casualties have strong potential to derail the Afghan-led, Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation, which is the only path to enduring peace and stability,” he warned.
Close shave for Afghan Sikhs
Soon after twin blasts were reported from the vicinity of the Kabul airport, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Manjinder Singh Sirsa called up the president of Kabul Gurdwara Committee who informed that the group of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus who were evacuated on Wednesday were standing exactly at the place where the explosions took place today.
“We thank Almighty that such thing didn’t happen yesterday,” Manjinder Singh Sirsa tweeted. He also informed that all Afghan Sikhs and Hindus who took refuge in Gurdwara Karte Parwan are safe.
Meanwhile, India is continuing its evacuation from Afghanistan as it assured that it will safely evacuate all Afghan Sikhs and Hindus. External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said the government is focusing on full evacuation from Afghanistan. Then the government will decide on its policy for Afghanistan.
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