Afghanistan

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said today that it is concerned that, according to its preliminary findings, an airstrike by international forces against the Taliban carried out overnight between Friday and Saturday in Kunduz killed 13 civilians, 10 of whom were children.

Adama Dieng, Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, acknowledged today’s final appeal judgment by the Residual Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, largely upholding the 2016 guilty verdict against Radovan Karadžic and increasing his sentence from 40 years to life imprisonment.

The Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) today, expressing support for the country’s full assumption of its own security, governance and development, consistent with priorities outlined in the Transformation Decade (2015-2024).

As ongoing direct talks between the United States and the Taliban further open the door for peace in Afghanistan, success will ultimately depend on aligning such efforts with those led by the Afghan people, the senior-most United Nations official in that country told the Security Council today.

Adela Raz, the new Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations, presented her credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.

More civilians were killed in the conflict in Afghanistan in 2018 than at any other time since records have been kept, according to a new report by the United Nations, which documented 3,804 deaths.  The report attributed nearly two thirds of the casualties to anti-Government elements.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President José Singer Weisinger (Dominican Republic):

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Kacou Houadja Léon Adom (Côte d’Ivoire):

In Afghanistan, humanitarian organizations in Herat City have started distributing food and non-food items to displaced people who have been affected by drought.  As part of the ongoing full-scale drought response, WFP and its partners reached nearly 287,000 affected people from 6 to 12 December with food and cash assistance.

Despite undeniable threats to their safety, the Afghan people came out to vote for a better future for their country in the recent parliamentary elections, the top-ranking United Nations official in the country told the Security Council today.