United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned an attack which killed 17 people near the Afghan Supreme Court building in the capital Kabul.
In a statement released on Thursday, Ban condemned the bomb attack which took place on June 11 near the building saying Å“Targeted attacks against civilians are unacceptable and a serious breach of international humanitarian law.”
According to the statement, Ban also called on Å“those responsible to immediately halt such attacks, which only add further to the suffering of the Afghan people.”
Nearly 40 people were also injured in the attack.
General Mohammad Zahir, the head of criminal investigations at the Interior Ministry, said the attack targeted a bus carrying Afghan Supreme Court workers.
According to reports, Taliban militants claimed responsibility for the violent attack.
Earlier this week, Jan Kubis, the UN special envoy to Afghanistan and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), voiced concern over the rise in civilian casualties in war-torn Afghanistan from January 1 to June 6 this year.
He said the UN recorded 3,092 civilian casualties during the period, up 24 percent compared to the same period last year.
Taliban militants have recently announced the start of their annual “spring offensive” against US-led and Afghan forces, vowing a new wave of attacks across Afghanistan.
Taliban said it would use “every possible tactic” to inflict casualties on Afghan and US-led forces.
The announcement prompted the Afghan authorities to beef up security in major cities across the country, including Kabul.
The United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 under the pretext of combating terrorism. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity continues to rise across the country despite the presence of thousands of US-led soldiers.
MAM/HN
This article originally appeared on: Press TV