UN chief’s message of ‘restraint’ to Taliban with a reminder to the world

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) met on Monday under the presidency of India to discuss the rapidly evolving situation in Afghanistan that intensified further with the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres took cognisance of “chilling reports of severe restrictions on human rights” and said he was particularly concerned about mounting violations against women and girls.

“We cannot and must not abandon the people of Afghanistan,” the UN chief said.

Guterres called on the UNSC to “use all tools at its disposal” to suppress global terrorist threats in Afghanistan and ensure human rights are not violated, news agency Reuters reported.

This was the second time in two weeks that the UNSC met to discuss Afghanistan. Soon after India assumed the presidency of the Security Council, for a month, starting on August 1, UNSC convened a meeting on Afghanistan on August 6 amid stalled talks between the now-defunct Afghan government and the Taliban in Doha and just days before the extended Troika meeting — of Pakistan, China and the US — in Qatar on August 11.

Panic gripped Kabul after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan’s presidential palace on Sunday following President Ashraf Ghani’s escape to a central Asian country. The Islamist insurgents were waiting to take over the Afghan capital.

Thousands of people were seen gathering at the international airport in Kabul, the only exit points out of the country not in control of the Taliban yet, in a last-ditch effort to leave the war-torn nation, even as the administration shut the civilian airspace over Afghanistan.

Even as the Taliban have said no one would be “harmed”, thousands of people are desperate to flee the country as many Afghans were apprehensive of the Taliban rule.

Guterres also urged all countries to be willing to receive Afghan refugees and asked them to refrain from deporting them back to the war-torn nation now taken over by the Taliban.

“The international community must unite to make sure that Afghanistan is never again used as a platform or safe haven for terrorist organisations,” Guterres told the UNSC, according to Reuters.

The UN chief also urged the Taliban to “exercise utmost restraint” to protect lives.

“The message from the international community to those on the warpath must be clear: seizing power through military force is a losing proposition … I call on the Taliban to immediately halt the offensive and to negotiate in good faith in the interest of Afghanistan and its people,” Guterres said.