Western countries’ embassies in Afghanistan call on Taliban to stop offensive

Kabul [Afghanistan] July 19 (ANI/Sputnik): The embassies to Afghanistan of several countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany and the United States, on Monday urged the Taliban (a terrorist group, banned in Russia) to stop an offensive in Afghanistan.

“The diplomatic missions to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan of Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the EU Delegation, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, the Office of the NATO Senior Civilian Representative, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States call for an urgent end to the Taliban’s ongoing military offensive, which thwarts efforts to arrive at a negotiated solution to the conflict and harms and displaces the civilian population,” the statement, published by the US embassy in Afghanistan on Twitter, said.

The Taliban offensive contradicts the commitment to the conflict resolution they made during the Doha peace talks, the statement added.

The countries condemned killings throughout the country, the destruction of vital infrastructure as well as actions that threaten “the gains Afghans have made over the last twenty years” and “violate the human rights of Afghan citizens.”

Afghanistan is seeing a spike in violence from the Taliban movement as international troops are gradually being withdrawn from the country. The troop pullout was one of the points of agreement the Taliban and the United States reached in Doha in February of last year. (ANI/Sputnik)