UN urges Afghan Talibans to forego use of IEDs
"Although the Taliban... leader Mullah Omar banned the use of anti-personnel landmines in 1998, denouncing such weapons as un-Islamic and anti-human, anti-government elements continue to use" them, a UN statement said.
The United Nations mission in Afghanistan "calls on the Taliban leadership to publicly reiterate a ban on these weapons and to stop their use", it said, adding that IEDs caused "devastating harm to civilians".
The call comes a day after a roadside explosion killed 19 civilians, most of them women and children who were on their way to a wedding party in Dawlat Abad district of the northern Balkh province.
A Taliban spokesman on Saturday denied their involvement in the incident, saying their fighters were not present in the area, a claim that was contested by the UN.
"Taliban operatives active in Dawlat Abad... are suspected of planting the landmine-like pressure plate IED, which is consistent with documented patterns and tactics of choice by the Taliban", the statement said.
According to an earlier UN statement, 1,145 civilians were killed in the war in the first six months of this year, with 80 per cent of the deaths blamed on insurgents. More than half were caused by roadside bombs.
Last year as a whole, a record 3,021 civilians died in the war, the UN has said.
It blames insurgents for 80 per cent of the civilian casualties in 2012, saying pro-government forces, which include US-led NATO, were responsible for 10 per cent.
Women and children accounted for about 30 per cent of this year's casualties, again mostly victims of roadside bombs.
IEDs are also responsible for a large percentage of the deaths among the NATO force helping fight the Taliban.
The US says that the militants often procure raw material for the bombs from within Pakistan and have recently agreed to develop a framework of cooperation to combat IEDs.
The foreign combat troops are due to withdraw by the end of 2014 and there are fears that the Taliban will extend their activities across wider swathes of the country against ill-prepared Afghan forces.
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They cannot be serious! Let the UN continue with their job (as they see fit) and leave well enough alone. They were one of the first targets when they failed to provide adequate force protection, and many of their positions in these places ask for people with religious foundatiosn and the attestation thereof, along with vague social values having nothing to do with protection of the people they are serving.
@Trojan: Dear Trogan, I do not think anybody is held in high esteem during what can only be termed the current tragic conflict, which has been, and still is being promulgated by America. I do not think I have read anywhere that the Taliban have been lauded as angels. However, I seem to recall that when the Taliban were resisting the Russians invaders the US could not praise them enough. Now the shoe is on the other foot it has become a different story and the US propaganda machine has somehow circumvented a complete turnaround. Changing the subject somewhat, I can only agree with Hubie's missive. If ISAF would get out of the 700 military bases in Afghanistan, and go home a lot of people who are currently alive will stay alive. Maybe they will not get educated, but they will continue to live, and who knows education may eventually come.
If ISAF hadn't blocked the road with their land fortresses, that overloaded minivan might not have had to take to the side of the road where mines lie undetected, often for decades.
Saw exactly the same thing happen on the BBC documentary our war. Afghans take their lives in their hands approaching an ISAF patrol.
It seems that if the 'good guys' don't get you, the bad guys do. ISAF should go home and leave the money to clean up the explosive litter.
@Khan (Ex-PTI): Dear Khan, Have the Taliban killed as many people as Americans?
The existence of "A Taliban intellectual" is NOT a mathematical improbability but that's maths!
The Talibans (which are held in high esteem byso many religiously confused Pakistanis) are on record on saying this: "Shariah (Islamic law) says that even a child can be killed if he is propagating against Islam."
Since when did the Taliban care about women and children?
It is reassuring to note that the UN is concerned about the welfare of Afghanistan people. It would be even more reassuring if the UN became concerned about drone strikes and fighter/bomber strikes in civilian areas. It would be even better if US/NATO forces stopped attacking Taliban fighting men and evacuated back to where they came from. This way the Taliban would not be in the situation of resisting foreign invading forces, which unfortunately results in civilian deaths and injuries. It should be remembered that the Taliban were innocent of wrongdoing and Afghanistan was illegally invaded by US/NATO forces. The Taliban were not responsible for 9/11, they were not terrorists at the time, or now, and the term terrorism should really be applied to US/NATO forces.
Leave their homeland and then make a request. It would then make a sense.
Give them drones and they will forego the use of IEDs.
Somebody tell them that the drones strikes are also killing women and children.