Afghanistan: top UN official ‘appalled’ by bombings in capital

The top United Nations envoy in Afghanistan today expressed his horror at the rash of explosions over the past two days near to or apparently directed against government institutions or personnel in Kabul, the capital.

“These have served no purpose other than to terrorize the population, and kill or maim ordinary citizens going about their every day business,” Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Representative to Afghanistan Tom Koenigs said in a statement.

“I am appalled by these callous and cruel acts. The people of Kabul and of Afghanistan as a whole have endured great suffering during the past decades. It is an outrage that anyone should attempt to inflict new pain and loss upon the people of this country at a time when its wounds are still not healed.”

He noted that the UN has been present in Afghanistan for more than half a century and has witnessed much suffering in the country. “We know of no good that comes from it,” he said. “My thoughts, and those of the entire United Nations family in Afghanistan, are with all those who have been affected by these attacks.”