The UN General Assembly on Monday strongly condemned the increasing violence and terrorist activity by the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other extremist groups in Afghanistan and called for stepped-up efforts to to help the nation build a stable future after two decades of war.
A resolution, adopted by consensus and cosponsored by over 100 countries, stressed "the urgent need" to tackle the upsurge in violent criminal and terrorist activities -- including activities by those involved in the narcotics trade, which has had an upsurge in opium poppy production this year.
It also backed the Afghanistan Compact, a five-year blueprint adopted by the Afghan government and the international community in January last year to help the rebuild the country's government institutions and promote the rule of law, human rights and national reconciliation.
While the resolution is not legally binding, its support by the 192-member General Assembly was a reflection of the strong international backing for Afghanistan at a difficult time.
Insurgent violence in Afghanistan is at its highest level since US forces invaded the country in 2001 to oust the hard-line Islamic Taliban rulers, who harbored al-Qaeda leaders blamed for planning the attacks in the US on Sept. 11, 2001.
The focus of the violence has been in Afghanistan's southern and eastern provinces, but the insurgents are increasingly using Iraq-style tactics, such as roadside bombs, suicide attacks and kidnappings to hit foreign and Afghan targets around the country.
The resolution "strongly condemns the upsurge of violence, including the rising trend of suicide attacks, in Afghanistan, in particular in the southern and eastern parts, owing to the increased violent and terrorist activity by the Taliban, al-Qaeda, other extremist groups and those involved in the narcotics trade."
This has resulted in increased casualties among Afghan civilians and national security forces, the almost 40,000-strong NATO-led alliance and the separate US force with about 13,000 troops, it said.
The resolution stresses the importance of continuing international support to bolster security and promote reconstruction in Afghanistan.
It also calls on the Afghan government to continue tackling the instability posed by the Taliban, al-Qaeda and extremists "as well as by criminal violence, in particular violence involving the drug trade."
It stresses the importance of implementing a program to disband illegal armed groups and welcomes the government's commitment "to work actively at national, provincial and local levels to advance this commitment."
Ambassador Thomas Matussek of Germany, which sponsored the resolution, said "experience shows that reconstruction after a civil war is not a matter of quick fixes." This is "even more so in Afghanistan where two decades of a devastating war, civil war and the Taliban left no effective state structures to build upon," he told the General Assembly.
CHAGOS ISLANDS: Recently elected Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam told lawmakers that the contents of negotiations are ‘unknown’ to the government Mauritius’ new prime minister ordered an independent review of a deal with the UK involving a strategically important US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean, placing the agreement under fresh scrutiny. Under a pact signed last month, the UK ceded sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago to Mauritius, while retaining control of Diego Garcia — the island where the base is situated. The deal was signed by then-Mauritian prime minister Pravind Jugnauth and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Oct. 3 — a month before elections in Mauritius in which Navin Ramgoolam became premier. “I have asked for an independent review of the
France on Friday showed off to the world the gleaming restored interior of Notre-Dame cathedral, a week before the 850-year-old medieval edifice reopens following painstaking restoration after the devastating 2019 fire. French President Emmanuel Macron conducted an inspection of the restoration, broadcast live on television, saying workers had done the “impossible” by healing a “national wound” after the fire on April 19, 2019. While every effort has been made to remain faithful to the original look of the cathedral, an international team of designers and architects have created a luminous space that has an immediate impact on the visitor. The floor shimmers and
THIRD IN A ROW? An expert said if the report of a probe into the defense official is true, people would naturally ask if it would erode morale in the military Chinese Minister of National Defense Dong Jun (董軍) has been placed under investigation for corruption, a report said yesterday, the latest official implicated in a crackdown on graft in the country’s military. Citing current and former US officials familiar with the situation, British newspaper the Financial Times said that the investigation into Dong was part of a broader probe into military corruption. Neither the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the Chinese embassy in Washington replied to a request for confirmation yesterday. If confirmed, Dong would be the third Chinese defense minister in a row to fall under investigation for corruption. A former navy
‘VIOLATIONS OF DISCIPLINE’: Miao Hua has come up through the political department in the military and he was already fairly senior before Xi Jinping came to power in 2012 A member of China’s powerful Central Military Commission has been suspended and put under investigation, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense said on Thursday. Miao Hua (苗華) was director of the political work department on the commission, which oversees the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the world’s largest standing military. He was one of five members of the commission in addition to its leader, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Ministry spokesman Colonel Wu Qian (吳謙) said Miao is under investigation for “serious violations of discipline,” which usually alludes to corruption. It is the third recent major shakeup for China’s defense establishment. China in June
RSS