UN / AFGHANISTAN

The top United Nations official in Afghanistan told the Security Council that Afghanistan “is now at a dangerous turning point,” stressing that “ahead lies either a genuine peace negotiation or a tragically intertwined set of crises.” UNIFEED

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:03:05
• Production Date: 6 August 2021
• Asset Language: English
• Personal Subject: DEBORAH LYONS
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS ASSISTANCE MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN - UNAMA
• Subject Topical: PEACE AND SECURITY; PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS; TERRORISM
• Geographic Subject: AFGHANISTAN
• MAMS Id: 2645904
• Parent Id: 2645904
• Alternate Title: unifeed210806e

Description

STORY: UN / AFGHANISTAN
TRT: 03:05
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 06 AUGUST 2021, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

Shotlist

FILE – NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations Headquarters

06 AUGUST 2021, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, Security Council.
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Deborah Lyons, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan:
“Afghanistan is now at a dangerous turning point. Ahead lies either a genuine peace negotiation or a tragically intertwined set of crises: an increasingly brutal conflict combined with an acute humanitarian situation and multiplying human rights abuses.”
4. Wide shot, Council
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Deborah Lyons, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan:
“This is now a different kind of war, reminiscent of Syria recently or Sarajevo in the not-so-distant past. To attack urban areas is to knowingly inflict enormous harm and cause massive civilian casualties. Nonetheless, the threatening of large urban areas appears to be a strategic decision by the Taliban, who have accepted the likely carnage that will ensue. Afghanistan National Security and Defense Forces are defending these cities. But this defense will also undoubtedly cause civilian casualties.”
6. Wide shot, Council
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Deborah Lyons, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan:
“Today we have an opportunity—an opportunity—to demonstrate the commitment of the UN Security Council and the regional and international community that you represent to prevent Afghanistan from descending into a situation of catastrophe so serious that it would have few, if any, parallels in this century.”
8. Wide shot, Council
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Ghulam M. Isaczai, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan:
“The Taliban, contrary to their commitments under their Doha Agreement, have not broken their ties with regional and international terrorist organizations. In fact, these links are unbreakable as they have been cultivated and built on shared ideology, interests and goals and inter-marriages which have been translated into joint attacks, logistical and material support. The implications of allowing this network to continue to grow inside the country carries great security risks not only for Afghanistan but also for the wider region and even the world.”
10. Wide shot, Council
11. Wide shot, Isaczai walks up to stakeout podium
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Ghulam M. Isaczai, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan:
“Talibans are not interested in peace. Peace would require a time where guns are silent. Peace requires confidence building measures. You cannot terrorize the population on the one hand, unleash a massive attack on cities, and then go to Doha and talk about peace on the other hand.”
13. Med shot, Isaczai walks away

Storyline

The top United Nations official in Afghanistan today (6 Aug) told the Security Council that Afghanistan “is now at a dangerous turning point,” stressing that “ahead lies either a genuine peace negotiation or a tragically intertwined set of crises.”

Briefing via video teleconference from Afghanistan, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in the country, Deborah Lyons, “this is now a different kind of war, reminiscent of Syria recently or Sarajevo in the not-so-distant past. To attack urban areas is to knowingly inflict enormous harm and cause massive civilian casualties. Nonetheless, the threatening of large urban areas appears to be a strategic decision by the Taliban, who have accepted the likely carnage that will ensue. Afghanistan National Security and Defense Forces are defending these cities. But this defense will also undoubtedly cause civilian casualties.”

Lyons said, the Security Council has an opportunity “to prevent Afghanistan from descending into a situation of catastrophe so serious that it would have few, if any, parallels in this century.”

In his briefing to the Council, Afghan Ambassador Ghulam M. Isaczai said, “the Taliban, contrary to their commitments under their Doha Agreement, have not broken their ties with regional and international terrorist organizations. In fact, these links are unbreakable as they have been cultivated and built on shared ideology, interests and goals and inter-marriages which have been translated into joint attacks, logistical and material support. The implications of allowing this network to continue to grow inside the country carries great security risks not only for Afghanistan but also for the wider region and even the world.”

Outside the Council, he told reporters that “Talibans are not interested in peace.”

He said, “peace would require a time where guns are silent. Peace requires confidence building measures. You cannot terrorize the population on the one hand, unleash a massive attack on cities, and then go to Doha and talk about peace on the other hand.”