UNITED NATIONS -- The UN Security Council on Monday "condemned in the strongest terms" a terrorist attack on the Afghan Parliament in Kabul, the Afghan capital, for which the Taliban claimed responsibility.
"The members of the Security Council deplored the civilian casualties, which resulted from the attack and expressed their deep sympathy and condolences to the victims and to the government and people of Afghanistan," the 15-nation council said in a press statement issued here. "They wished the injured a speedy recovery."
In a suicide attack on Afghanistan Parliament in Kabul earlier Monday, 21 persons have reportedly got injured with all the seven attackers being killed by the security forces.
The Taliban claimed the responsibility of the attack. At the time of the blast, television was broadcasting live proceedings of the lower house of the parliament.
"The members of the Security Council condemned the blatant disrespect to democracy and rule of law that such an attack against the elected representatives of the people of Afghanistan constitutes and commended the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces for their effective action," the statement said.
They "reiterated their condemnation of all attacks targeting civilians that are in violation of international law," said the statement. "No violent or terrorist acts can reverse the path towards Afghan-led peace, democracy and stability in Afghanistan, which is supported by the people and the government of Afghanistan and by the international community."
Earlier Monday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in a separate statement issued by his spokesman, strongly condemned the assault "as yet another unacceptable attack on civilians in Afghanistan."
Afghanistan still needs the support of the international community and the sustained attention of the UN Security Council as the country is facing the challenge of growing insecurity, a senior UN official said here Monday.
The need is absolutely clear, and there is no room for "complacency," Nicholas Haysom, the secretary-general's special representative for Afghanistan and also the head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said as he was briefing the 15-nation UN body on the current situation in Afghanistan.
The Taliban militants took control of another district in northern Afghanistan's province of Kunduz on Monday, reports said.
The province, bordering Tajikistan, has been the scene of heavy fighting earlier this year as security forces have repelled militants, who tried to take control of several districts near the provincial capital of Kunduz city.
The Taliban-led insurgency has been rampant since April 24 when the militant group launched its so-called annual spring offensive in different places of the militancy-plagued Afghanistan, which had claimed hundreds of lives, including militants, security personnel and civilians.
