Uzbekistan hosts conference to rally support for Afghanistan

Uzbekistan hosted an international conference in Tashkent on Tuesday to garner support for the economic and social revival of Afghanistan.

Uzbekistan hosted an international conference in Tashkent on Tuesday to garner support for the economic and social revival of Afghanistan. Addressing the high-level meeting on Afghanistan, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev called on the Afghan government "to demonstrate strong will" to take decisive measures to counter-terrorism, and break ties with all international terrorist organizations.

"This will help strengthen confidence in the interim government, open up real prospects for the sustainable development of Afghanistan in an atmosphere of friendship, good neighborliness and mutually beneficial cooperation with its immediate environment and the international community," Mirziyoyev was quoted as saying by Xinhua, in a message to the conference themed "Afghanistan: security and economic development." According to the Chinese news agency, dozens of delegations of governments and international organizations from Europe, Middle East, Asia and other regions took part in the conference.

The head of the Afghan delegation, Taliban-appointed acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said that the majority of the delegations were in a supportive mood, which showed a positive development in relations with his country. "Another positive point was that the participants understood the message related to the real situation in Afghanistan, which will hopefully lay the ground for political and economic engagement," he said.

Uzbekistan also presented projects in energy, railway development and education sectors to help neighboring Afghanistan to build its social-economic infrastructure. This conference comes days after the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released a report outlining the human rights situation in Afghanistan over the 10 months since the Taliban takeover.

The report summarises UNAMA's findings with regards to the protection of civilians, extrajudicial killings, torture and ill-treatment, arbitrary arrests and detentions, the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, fundamental freedoms and the situation in places of detention. The report also contains recommendations to both the de facto authorities and the international community. Despite an overall, significant reduction in armed violence, between mid-August 2021 and mid-June 2022, UNAMA recorded 2106 civilian casualties (700 killed, 1406 wounded).

The majority of civilian casualties were attributed to targeted attacks by the armed group self-identified "Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant - Khorasan Province" against ethnic and religious minority communities in places where they go to school, worship and go about their daily lives. "It is beyond time for all Afghans to be able to live in peace and rebuild their lives after 20 years of armed conflict. Our monitoring reveals that despite the improved security situation since 15 August, the people of Afghanistan, in particular women and girls, are deprived of the full enjoyment of their human rights," said Markus Potzel, Acting Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan. (ANI)

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