UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, demanded Monday the cessation of violence against civilians in Afghanistan, Cuba's Prensa Latina (PL) news agency reported.
He said that the warring parties have to put an end to the deliberate attacks on civilians and the use of heavy weapons in densely populated areas and the death of innoncent people.
Zeid issued these statements following the publication in Geneva and Kabul of a UN report reflecting almost 64,000 people killed in the Central Asian country since 2009, while in the first six months of this year, 5,166 civilians were either killed or maimed.
According to the High Commissioner, about a third of people who lost their lives or were mutilated and wounded were children.
The testimonies of survivors describe the agony thousands of families in Afghanistan are suffering, he said.
The official expressed his sorrow for the situation in the country, invaded and occupied in 2001 by the US and its allies under the pretext of the war against terrorism.
The UN report and the statements by the High Commissioner for Human Rights came just two days after the murder of 80 people during a terrorist attack on a peaceful demonstration in Kabul. The attack also saw 230 other persons injured.(Bernama)