Annan condemns intensifying attacks in Kabul after 16 killed in blast

Reacting to a deadly blast in the Afghan capital of Kabul today, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan decried the trend towards intensified attacks in the war-ravaged country.

“The Secretary-General has learned with great concern about the explosion in Kabul today that claimed the lives of up to 16 people and wounded dozens more, the vast majority of them civilians,” a UN spokesman said in a statement.

The statement noted “an increasing number of such attacks” in Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan over recent months.

“The Secretary-General condemns in the strongest possible terms these acts, which reflect an inexcusable disregard for the value of human life and only serve to undermine the country's transition,” the spokesman said.