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After Taliban announces ‘spring offensive’, UN condemns, says ‘will result in more suffering for Afghan people’

After the Taliban on Friday announced a ‘spring offensive’ amid peace talks with the US, the UN Security Council has condemned the announcement saying it will only result in more unnecessary suffering and destruction for the Afghan people.

Operation Fath, which means “victory” in Arabic, will be conducted across Afghanistan with the aim of “eradicating occupation” and “cleansing our Muslim homeland from invasion and corruption,” the Taliban had said in a statement.

In a press statement on the Taliban Offensive, members of the 15-nation Council said they recognised the Afghan people’s strong desire for sustainable peace in Afghanistan. They underscored that calls for more fighting will not advance the goal of making a sustainable peace.

“The members of the Security Council condemned the announcement by the Taliban of a spring offensive, which will only result in more unnecessary suffering and destruction for the Afghan people,” the press statement said.

The annual spring offensive traditionally marks the start of the ‘fighting season’. “Our Jihadi obligation has not yet ended,” the Taliban said.

The members of the Security Council called on all parties to the conflict to seize the opportunity to begin an inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue and negotiations that result in a political settlement.

They reiterated the importance of an inclusive Afghan-led and-owned peace process for the long-term prosperity and stability of Afghanistan, and expressed their full support for the Afghan Government’s efforts to that end.

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