US, NATO, EU issues joint statement condemning violence in Afghanistan

A statement has been jointly issued by the United States, NATO, and European Union on Friday condemning continued violence on Afghanistan. The statement mentions that the Taliban is majorly responsible for the disruption and it must be ended to make sure no civilians suffer. The three have demanded action from all parties to stop the violence. 

The statement also adds to bring a political settlement between Afghanistan and the Taliban group.

"Strongly condemned the continued violence in Afghanistan for which the Taliban are largely responsible and demanded all parties to take immediate and necessary steps to reduce violence and in particular, to avoid civilian casualties in order to create an environment conducive to reaching a political settlement," read US State Department statement.

A United official statement came after the Special Envoys and Special Representatives of the United States of America, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, NATO, Norway, and the United Kingdom held a meeting in Berlin earlier on May 6.

Taliban threats to Afghanistan

Since the US announced its decision to drawback troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban threats have started pouring in. For this particular reason, the members demanded an end to the Taliban's cruelty on Afghanistan. The statement asserted discontinue the attacks on the vicinity of hospitals, schools, universities, mosques, and other civilian areas. An immediate end has been demanded to the activity of targeted assassinations against civil society leaders, the clergy, journalists and other media workers, human rights defenders, healthcare personnel, judicial employees, and other civilians in the joint statement. 

The statement further stressed a negotiation between the Afghan government, the Taliban, and other Afghan political and civil society leaders for a comprehensive and sustainable environment. 

Afghanistan violence

The Taliban recently has been blamed for attacking Afghanistan premises with bombs and heavy weaponry after the United States missed May 1 deadline to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and announced a complete pullback by the 9/11 anniversary. The US directly blamed the Taliban however earlier in February the group had denied the allegations. The Taliban, during that time also said that other jihadist groups are launching attacks on Afghanistan and not them.

(Inputs from ANI)