Kabul/New York: At least 47 people were feared killed and over 70 injured in a suicide attack on Kandahar’s Fatimiya mosque, which is the largest Shia mosque there, during Friday prayers on October 15, 2021. No group has come forward yet to claim of responsibility for the attack.
This was not the first attack on the worship places of minority communities as well as the Shia mosques in Afghanistan. Just a week ago, over a 100 persons were feared killed in a bombing at a Shiite mosque in Kunduz in northern Afghanistan, which was claimed by the local Islamic State affiliate. Before that a Sikh Gurudwara Karte Parwan was also vandalised in Kabul by heavily armed suspected Taliban fighters who also took the people there in their custody on October 5, 2021.
UNAMA [United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan] stressed that the UN condemns the latest atrocity targeting a religious institution and worshippers and that those responsible must be brought to justice.
“It is important that every community in Afghanistan feel safe and that those in charge ensure the safety of every community and every ethnic group,” Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, said in New York.
Also read: Over 100 feared killed in attack on a Shia mosque in Afghanistan
In the meantime, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today (IST) urged States to facilitate and expedite family reunification procedures for Afghans whose families are left behind in Afghanistan, or who have been displaced across the region.
UNHCR said that recent political developments in Afghanistan have not led to large‑scale cross‑border displacements. However, many among pre‑existing Afghan refugee and asylum seeker populations remain separated from their families owing to the inaccessibility of family reunification procedures.
UNHCR stressed that the principle of family unity is protected under international law and in binding regional legal instruments. Domestic legislation in many countries also has this principle.
– global bihari bureau
