Afghanistan at dangerous turning point, says UN envoy at Security Council meeting

New York [US], August 6 (ANI): Afghanistan is at a "dangerous turning point" as the Taliban has achieved significant territorial gains with over a thousand casualties in the past one month alone, United Nations Special Representative for Afghanistan Deborah Lyons told the Security Council on Friday.
Addressing the UNSC briefing on Afghanistan, Lyons the Special Representative of UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan said ," Afghanistan is at a dangerous turning point. In the past weeks, Afghanistan has entered a new destructive phase. Taliban has achieved significant territorial gains."
"Ahead lies either a genuine peace negotiation or a tragic set of crises, an increasingly brutal conflict combined with acute humanitarian situation and multiplying human rights abuses. I believe that the Security Council or the international community can prevent most dire scenarios," said Lyons at the UNSC session chaired by India
She said that the human toll of the Taliban's strategy is extremely distressing. "Over a thousand casualties have occurred last month. Half of the Afghan population in need of humanitarian assistance. We have not seen the reduction of violence, there's been 50 per cent increase in civilian casualties."
Lyons further said that fighting in Afghanistan has led to 460 civilian casualties in Kandahar with 104 killed in Lashkar Gah.
"Fighting has been especially severe in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province. Since July 28, just a mere 10 days ago at least 104 civilians were killed and 403 wounded as registered by the two main hospitals," she added. "In Kandahar, since the start of the offensive there on July 9, a month ago, more than 460 civilians casualties have been registered."
These remarks come amid the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan. With US military drawdown less than a month away from competition, violence is at its peak in the country. Doha, the capital of Qatar has been hosting the intra-Afghan peace talks.
As many as 1,677 civilians were killed and 3,644 more were injured in Afghanistan in the first six months of this year, showing an 80 per cent increase of casualties compared to last year. (ANI)