Afghan mosque attack kills 8 during Iftar time, Taliban denies responsibility

At least eight worshippers have been killed while breaking their Ramzan fast on May 19 as gunmen attacked a mosque in central Afghanistan, the official said. According to international reports, the spokesperson for the governor of Parwan province Wahida Shahkar said that “unknown gunmen” fired on people during iftar time when they were ending their day’s fast with a meal during Islamic holy month.

The gruesome attack has been confirmed by the Ministry of Interior in Prawan’s provincial capital Charekar and has placed the blame on the insurgent group, Taliban. However, the extremist group has denied any responsibility for the incident; instead it accused the Afghan government’s security forces of the same. Incidence of violence in the war-stricken country has hiked despite the “momentous” peace deal signed between the United States and the Taliban. The agreement was supposed to set the frame for Afghan-Taliban talks, but not much progress has been witnessed.

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UN calls for ‘ceasefire’

Even the United Nations has warned of an alarming escalation in the conflicts in the regions. While the world is battling with coronavirus outbreak since the start of 2020, the United Nations mission has said that over 500 civilians were killed in the first quarter of this year in war-stricken country, Afghanistan. According to the UN mission report released on April 27, civilians had to take a severe blow of the armed conflict in the country and it killed over 150 children. 

The organisation had documented nearly 1,300 casualties that occurred in the first three months of 2020 in Afghanistan, out of which 533 were killed 760 were injured. Deborah Lyons, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has called on all parties involved in the violence for a “global ceasefire” and unite against the fight with COVID-19 pandemic. 

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