PREVIEW: UN Security Council To Meet Friday Morning To Address Violence In Afghanistan

UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th August, 2021) The UN Security Council will hold a public meeting on Friday to address the escalation of hostilities in Afghanistan amid the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country.

The UN Security Council will meet a week after the attack on the United Nations compound in Herat during which an Afghan security guard was killed and several other people were injured.

On Tuesday, the UN Security Council condemned the attack in the strongest terms and called on both the Afghan government and the Taliban opposition movement (banned in Russia) to engage in an inclusive peace process to achieve a political settlement and a ceasefire.

The meeting on Thursday will, for the first time, see the participation of the new Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations, Ghulam Isaczai. The diplomat will also make a press statement following the council's discussions.

The gathering will also take place against the background of a massive offensive operation in Lashkar Gah, the capital of the southern province of Helmand, launched Wednesday by the Afghan military against the Taliban militants.

The fighting in Lashkar Gah reportedly picked up on Sunday. Several tv and radio stations in the province were shut down. On Tuesday, the Afghan national army called on residents to leave Lashkargah so that an operation can be carried out to clear the city of Taliban militants.

The United Nations expressed its grave concern about the fate of thousands of Lashkar Gah residents trapped by the ongoing fighting.

In recent weeks, fighting between the Afghan government forces and Taliban has intensified and the latter have seized about 85 percent of Afghanistan and launched attacks on major cities.