UN slams grenade attack on UN vehicle in Kabul that killed its int’l staffer

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 25 (APP):United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned the attack on a UN vehicle in Kabul in which an international staff member of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) was killed and five other civilians, including two Afghan staffers, were injured on Sunday.

Press reports indicate that the vehicle, which had UN markings, was heavily damaged after being hit by a grenade attack, which occurred on a road frequently used by UN workers traveling between central Kabul and the headquarters of the UN Mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, outside the city.

“He (the UN secretary-general) expresses his deepest condolences to the family of the victim and wishes a swift recovery to the injured,” his Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement issued at UN Headquarters in New York.

The UN chief called on the Afghan authorities to spare no effort to identify and swiftly bring to justice the perpetrators of this attack, the statement said.

The attack comes at a time when Afghanistan has seen record-high levels of civilian casualties. In October, UNAMA published a report showing that, in the first nine months of the year, more than 8,000 civilians were victims of violence, with July the bloodiest month on record.

October also saw 85 people killed, and another 373 injured, in election-related violence, as part of what the head of UNAMA, Tadamichi Yamamoto, declared a “deliberate campaign of violence intended to undermine the electoral process”.

A UNAMA statement said that, at this time, and in the immediate future, neither the identity of the UN worker who was killed, nor those injured, will be released.

In his remarks, the secretary-general reaffirmed the United Nations’ commitment to continuing to assist the government and people of Afghanistan as the country strives for sustainable peace and development, the statement added.