Office of The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has strongly condemned the suicide attack by the Daesh militant group on the embassy of Iraq in Kabul that left two Afghan civilians dead.
“The attack, which occurred in a residential area of central Kabul, lasted around five hours and involved several armed men who killed two Afghan civilian employees inside the embassy and injured a police officer before being killed by Afghan security forces. Islamic State-Khorasan Province (Daesh) claimed responsibility,” UNAMA said in a statement on Monday.
“This is yet another attack that appears to have targeted the international community but in which Afghan civilians bore the brunt of the violence,” the statement read.
“This attack shows complete contempt for human life, as well as the international law designed to protect diplomats,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan.
“I commend the Afghan security forces for their swift action that saved many lives.”
Meanwhile, NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan Ambassador Cornelius Zimmermann also denounced the attack, terming it against the principles of international law.
“I strongly condemn the attack against the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq in Kabul today. Attacks against diplomatic facilities and staff are against the principles of international law,” ambassador Zimmermann said in a statement on Monday.
“ISIS (Daesh) has once again demonstrated their utter disrespect for civilian lives,” reads the statement.
“I offer my heartfelt sympathies to all those affected and my solidarity to the entire team of the Iraqi Embassy in these difficult moments, and I commend the Afghan security forces for their swift and decisive action in repelling this attack,” he said.
Zimmermann reaffirmed the alliance’s longstanding cooperation to Afghanistan in the fight against the terrorist groups such as Daesh.
He said that NATO stands firm in its commitment to continue supporting the Afghan security forces and institutions, as they tackle the threats posed by ISIS and other terrorist groups.”
The Daesh attack on the Iraqi embassy comes only a week after a Taliban suicide bomber detonated an explosive laden vehicle in the western part of Kabul killing at least 36 civilians and wounding over 40 others including women and children.
Security has dramatically deteriorated in Afghanistan over the recent weeks following a fresh spate of attacks by the Taliban and Daesh with many attacks targeting civilian populated areas and diplomatic facilities.
In May, a truck bomb ripped through one of Kabul’s heavily fortified areas killing over 150 and wounding more than 600 hundred others.
Kabul has been the scene of 11 major, complex attacks since the beginning of the year. A U.N. report this month into the Taliban insurgency said that in the first half of the year, the Afghan capital accounted for the highest number of civilian casualties in the country at 19 percent.
At least four Daesh insurgents launched an attack on the Iraqi Embassy in Kabul city on Monday morning in the Ansari area of the city.
The Ministry of Interior (MoI) said in a statement that three attackers were killed by security forces after a gunfight that lasted almost four hours.
The MoI said that “one policeman was wounded in the attack.”
The Afghan minister of foreign affairs Salahuddin Rabbani telephoned his Iraqi counterpart Ibrahim al-Jaafari on Monday.
The two sides reportedly reaffirmed their resolve in fighting terrorism. Rabbani and Jaffari said that the attack came in the aftermath of victories against Daesh in Iraq.
Iraqi foreign minister hailed the Afghan security forces' rapid action to safeguard its diplomatic staff.