Afghanistan is ruptured from the international community: UN envoy

NEW YORK (Ariana News): Afghanistan is ruptured from the international community, Roza Otunbayeva, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, said at the UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday.

Otunbayeva said that the end of armed conflict in Afghanistan has delivered a period of stability and created opportunity for a positive peace.

“A number of positive steps have been taken in the fields of economy, infrastructure, and foreign relations to seize this opportunity and begin to address the many negative legacies of war,” she said. “I have growing concerns, however, that this opportunity is being missed. The Afghan population faces a serious humanitarian and development crisis as international funding drops.”

The envoy, however, noted that the adoption of the moral oversight law shortly after the Doha meeting has undermined this process.

“We are at the same time trying to address the political legacy of Afghanistan’s long conflict. In the current situation, Afghanistan is ruptured from the international community. Individual Taliban (IEA), many of whom are de facto ministers, are under sanctions and cannot travel without permission from this Council. Afghanistan’s Central Bank assets are frozen, limiting the development potential of the private sector,” she said.

At the meeting, US and UK representatives also called on the IEA to reverse restrictions on women and girls.

“The Taliban (IEA) cannot expect the international community to move forward on the UN process without first meeting their international obligations on the fundamental freedoms of women and girls, political inclusion, and counter terrorism.” said Jess Jambert-Gray, Deputy Political Coordinator of UK at UN.

Chinese and Russian envoys expressed over security risks from Afghanistan.

“Terrorist forces such as Da’esh, Al-Qaida, and ETIM are still active in Afghanistan, posing a threat to Afghanistan and international and regional security. We call on the interim government of Afghanistan to take vigorous actions to resolutely combat the various terrorist forces in its territory, and to prevent Afghanistan from once again becoming an enclave for terrorist organizations.” Said Fu Cong, Chinese envoy to UN.

Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia said: “The Russian Federation has consistently advocated for a realistic and comprehensive approach to Afghanistan, which should be based on objective analysis and a balanced assessment of the situation. It is imperative to have constructive cooperation within the international community on the Afghan issue. First and foremost, it means paying due regard for the needs of the Afghans themselves and rejecting one’s own narrow interests, as well as maintaining patient dialogue with the de facto Afghan authorities on a wide range of pressing problems, without blackmail or pressure.”

Pakistan’s envoy Munir Akram termed the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as the largest terrorist organization in Afghanistan.

He said that TTP is conducting almost daily terrorist attacks against Pakistan with full support and protection of the Islamic Emirate and sponsorship of Pakistan’s major adversary.

The Islamic Emirate, however, denies all these allegations and human rights violations and says that if anyone has evidence about the presence of terrorists, they can provide them.

“We have six neighbors, No neighboring country has complained. There is only one country that sometimes makes allegations. Unfortunately, instead of getting information and stating the facts, the Secretary General of the United Nations made an accusation that did not suit him,” said Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.