Afghanistan: UN “Outraged” by Attack on Mosque

Afghanistan: UN Mission “Outraged” by Deadly Attack on Kandahar Mosque

New York, Jun 1 2005 10:00AM

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan has expressed shock and outrage following today’s suicide bomb attack on a mosque in Kandahar during a memorial service for a slain Islamic cleric.

“While the number of casualties is not yet fully known, this already qualifies as one of the deadliest assaults against civilians in Afghanistan in several years,” said a statement released in Kabul by a spokesman for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

That statement says that the attack on the Abdul Rab Akhundzada mosque is all the more grave because took place during the memorial service for Maulawi Abdullah Fayaz, assassinated just two days ago.

“UNAMA condemns this odious act in the strongest terms,” the statement says, adding that the Mission expresses its solidarity with the religious community and the people of Kandahar, who have been so ruthlessly targeted, and its sympathy to the wounded and the relatives of those killed in the incident.

“[UNAMA] also expresses its conviction that the people of Afghanistan will see in this brutal attack further reason to rally against all forms of violence and their perpetrators,” says the statement.

ENDS

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