KABUL - The extreme human suffering caused by the fighting in Ghazni City highlights the urgent need for an end to the war in Afghanistan, the UN’s top diplomat in the country said on Wednesday.
The United Nations continued to maintain that there could be no military solution to the conflict, said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the secretary-general’s special representative for Afghanistan.
Equally unacceptable, the fight for Ghazni City had exacerbated deep-rooted wounds dividing Afghan communities at a time when cohesion was more crucial than ever before, he added.
The situation in Ghazni for non-combatants remains particularly grim, as the fighting has led to electricity outages along with water and food shortages. Communication networks and media outlets have been shuttered and roads remain blocked.
In a statement from UNAMA, Tadamichi Yamamoto said humanitarian actors ready and willing to supply desperately-needed assistance must be given absolute guarantees by all parties that they would be allowed to operate safely, without any attempts to interfere with distribution.
He praised the Afghan government extending an unprecedented overture of talks with the Taliban. The Eid ceasefire on June 15-17 illustrated to all Afghans, especially those too young to have known anything but war, what peace looked like, he added.
“It is, therefore, vital for this war to come to an end through an Afghan-led negotiated settlement,” he said, stressing the need for an immediate end to the fighting in Ghazni, as indeed in Afghanistan.
Talks between the government and the Taliban were necessary to identify and expand common ground, he argued. The United Nations was ready to support any endeavours that would advance peace in Afghanistan, he concluded.   (Pajhwok)