UN Security Council Condemns Afghan Terror Attacks

Afghan soldiers at the site of a suicide attack in Kandahar, 16 January (epa) 18 January 2006 -- The United Nations Security Council has condemned the recent wave of terrorist attacks in Afghanistan.

The Security Council said on 17 January that no terrorist acts will be able to reverse Afghanistan's path to peace and reconstruction.

The statement offered condolences to the relatives of the Afghan and Canadian victims of the attacks. A Canadian diplomat was killed in a bombing on 15 January in Kandahar, while over 20 Afghans died in two other attacks.

The top UN envoy to Afghanistan, Jean Arnault, noted an increase in the number of suicide attacks in Afghanistan, saying that 13 of the 19 suicide attacks recorded in the past 12 months had taken place in the past 10 weeks.

The Security Council statement also looked forward to an international aid conference in London scheduled for 31 January-1 February, at which donors should launch the next phase of reconstruction in Afghanistan.

(AP, AFP, dpa)