Archive photo – © EPA-EFE
The diplomatic missions of the United States and the European Union in Afghanistan, among others, have called on the Taliban to urgently end their military offensive. This was stated in a joint statement published Monday.
GVSource: Belgian
The statement pointed out that the ongoing attack by the hardline Islamic Taliban movement is causing civilian casualties, displacing people and destroying public infrastructure across the country.
The representatives of the United States, the European Union, NATO, Japan, South Korea and some European countries said: “The Taliban attack directly contradicts their claim that they support a negotiated settlement of the conflict.”
The statement also condemned “credible reports” of attempts to suppress the human rights of women and girls and the closure of private and public media institutions.
“Keep progressing”
“Afghans have achieved a lot in the past 20 years and want to continue building on their achievements in development, human rights and freedom of expression,” the statement said. “We want to stress that the progress made in recent years can only be sustained if all parties work together.”
Representatives of the Taliban and the Afghan government met in Qatar last weekend for negotiations. Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naim said afterwards that the two sides agreed to hold more meetings in the future in order to find a political solution to the conflict.
