KABUL (SW) – U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation has stressed a ceasefire and political settlement remain ‘urgent’.
In a series of tweets, Zalmay Khalilzad condemned the spate of targeted killings and assassinations. He said such incidents threaten the peace process. “Living with so much violence is no way to live. It breeds a climate of fear. Fear will drive more Afghans to leave their homeland. Who will then be left to advocate for rights and freedoms? This is not the way a society will thrive and prosper”, tweeted Khalilzad.
The top U.S. envoy demanded those behind these terrorist attacks must be held accountable.
This comes a day after Fareshta Kohistani, a prominent female rights activist was gunned down in Kapisa province.
According to the Afghanistan Civil Society Forum and the Human Rights Defenders Committee, at least 23 rights defenders and civil activists lost their lives in such targeted assassinations this year so far. At least 5 people, including four doctors of Afghanistan’s main prison facility got killed in a bomb blast in the capital Kabul on Tuesday.
In the past two months, at least five journalists and media professionals also lost their lives to such attacks.
ENDS
