Association for Defending Victims of Terrorism – The Afghan authorities must investigate and bring to justice the perpetrators of a brutal series of attacks amounting to war crimes that have killed at least 24 civilians in little over a week, said Amnesty International.
On 15 June, five health workers were killed and four others injured after gunmen opened fire at various polio vaccination centres across the city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province. The incident comes shortly after two car bombs killed at least seven civilians and injured at least six others in a district of Western Kabul largely populated by members of the persecuted Hazara minority on 12 June.
“The targeting of civilians with near total impunity continues unabated. While peace talks falter and preparations for the full withdrawal of international forces gathers pace, it’s Afghanistan’s civilians who are paying the brutal price of this conflict,” said Samira Hamidi, Amnesty International’s South Asia Campaigner.
She added,“The Afghan authorities must end this cycle of impunity by launching independent and effective investigations into these and other attacks on civilians and bring those responsible to justice. We urge all parties to the conflict to take all measures necessary to protect civilians and respect international humanitarian law. And we call on the international community to make the protection of civilians and of minorities a central component of their ongoing support of the peace process.”
