UN expresses concern over escalating violence against Afghan Shias

The United Nations said it was “deeply concerned” about the escalation of violence against Shia Muslims in Afghanistan and preventing them from practicing their religious rites, after it received news of very high casualties in the suicide attack that targeted a Shia mosque in Kunduz province, yesterday, Friday, which resulted in the death of 100 and the injury of more than 100 people among the worshipers.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said, “Initial information indicates that more than 100 people were killed and injured in the suicide bombing inside the mosque.”
It added that it was “deeply concerned about reports of a large number of casualties in the horrific attack that targeted the Sayed Abad Shia mosque in Khanabad district of Kunduz province, Afghanistan.”
The spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, indicated that “this attack is the third on a religious institution in less than a week.”
Guterres said, “Attacks that deliberately target civilians who are exercising their right to freely practice their religious rites are violations of basic human rights and international humanitarian law,” calling for “the perpetrators to be brought to justice for accountability.”

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