In reaction to recent deadly car bombing in Ghor province, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has called on the Taliban to agree to a nationwide ceasefire. The AIHRC expressed concern over increasing violence across the country.
In a statement issued today, October 20, the AIHRC detailed that 16 people were killed and 125 others, including four women and 31 children, were wounded as a result of the car bombing hit Ferozkoh, capital city of Ghor province, on October 18.
The Commission also said that six civilians, including two women and two children, had been killed and one other wounded in a roadside bomb explosion took place a day before the car bombing, October 17, in the same city.
Though no group has claimed responsibility for the two incidents, the government blamed the Taliban for the deadly attacks.
The AIHRC underlined that such attacks are clearly violation of the international humanitarian law, warning that the attacks and civilian casualties would harm the ongoing peace process.
It also called on Afghanistan’s security institutions to prevent such attacks, urging them to identify and bring perpetrators of the two attacks to justice.
The Commission, meanwhile, called on the Taliban to reduce the level of violence and stop killing civilians.
This comes a day after the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, described escalating the violence for winning concession at the negotiating table as “very risky”, describing Ghor’s car bombing as an example. “Such an approach can undermine the peace process and repeats past miscalculations by Afghan leaders.”
8/9 The belief that says violence must escalate to win concessions at the negotiating table is very risky. Such an approach can undermine the peace process and repeats past miscalculations by Afghan leaders.
— U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad (@US4AfghanPeace) October 18, 2020
A surge in Taliban violence intensifies despite the government-led peace delegation and Taliban negotiators are engaged in peace talks in Doha, Qatar.
