UN personnel may be among dead in Afghan suicide bombing

17 January 2014 – United Nations personnel may be among at least 14 civilians killed in a suicide bombing of a restaurant in Kabul, the Afghan capital, tonight for which the Taliban claimed responsibility.

Deploring the attack, which killed both Afghans and foreigners, in the “strongest terms,” the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said it is seeking to verify the status of all UN personnel and reiterated its condemnation of attacks that deliberately target civilians as gross violations of international humanitarian law.

“This violence is unacceptable and must stop immediately,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative and UNAMA head Ján Kubiš said in a statement. “I strongly condemn the targeting of civilians in any form, and, in particular, the continued use of suicide bombers.”

The Mission extended its condolences to the families of those killed its wishes for a speedy recovery to all those injured.

In his latest quarterly report on the UNAMA to the Security Council last month Mr. Kubiš said Afghanistan continues to make progress in enhancing its stability ahead of the withdrawal by the end of this year of the international forces that have sought to bring security there for the past 12 years.

But he warned that international support will be required through at least another decade for the ambitious security, political and economic transformations envisaged for a country that has known little peace or stability for over the past 35 years.