US must be held accountable for past actions: Islamic Emirate official

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has condemned the U.S. drone attack that killed 10 Afghan civilians last month and urged the United States to take responsibility for their past “killings and oppression” in the country.

Zabihullah Mujahid, deputy minister of culture and information of the Islamic Emirate’s interim government, talked with the China Media Group on Sunday and said: “This is not the only offence that the U.S. has committed. It’s been 20 years that they have martyred civilians in Afghanistan.”

“They have attacked the homes of civilians several times, and their latest carelessness and persecution of the people of Afghanistan led to the loss of 10 family members, including children, women, and elderly individuals, after an airstrike on a residential area,” he said.

“The U.S. must be held accountable for their past actions and cooperate with the people of Afghanistan as compensation for the killings and oppression in the country,” he said

Mujahid also commented on the six-month extension of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) which was adopted on Friday.

“We’re optimistic about the extension of UNAMA activities, because it’s a body of the UN and an international organization. Afghanistan must remain as an incandescent attention point of the international community, and the world should stay with us,” he said.

He reiterated the country’s willingness to have good relations with the international community.

“The international community is supposed to have good relations with us, and we also want affirmative relations with the world in the framework of our national interests, and we will coordinate humanitarian assistance with the UNAMA, and will cooperate in the areas of human rights issues,” he said.

“We call upon them to not extend their mission, but take effective steps in order to raise the voices of the Afghan people and assist the Afghans, and also, the UN must play a positive role politically with Afghans,” he added.

The Security Council on Friday adopted a resolution extending the mandate of the UNAMA for six months, until March 17, 2022.

Resolution 2596, which won the unanimous support of the 15-member council, stressed the critical importance of a continued presence of the UNAMA and other UN agencies, funds and programs across Afghanistan.