ICRC Welcomes Taliban Removing Ban On Activity In Afghanistan - Official

Muhammad Irfan Published September 16, 2019 | 06:42 PM

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) welcomes the end of the ban on operations on Taliban-controlled territories in Afghanistan and the renewal of the Taliban's security guarantees, Ikhtiyar Aslanov, the head of the ICRC Regional Delegation for the Russian Federation, Belarus and Moldova, told Sputnik on Monday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th September, 2019) The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) welcomes the end of the ban on operations on Taliban-controlled territories in Afghanistan and the renewal of the Taliban's security guarantees, Ikhtiyar Aslanov, the head of the ICRC Regional Delegation for the Russian Federation, Belarus and Moldova, told Sputnik on Monday.

On Sunday, the Taliban movement, which refers to itself as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), on Sunday canceled its ban on the activity of the ICRC in the country and promised to provide security guarantees to humanitarian staff.

"We welcome the acknowledgment of our humanitarian principles and the reinstatement of the Taliban's support as well as renewal of security guarantees to resume our activities in favour of people affected by the armed conflict in Afghanistan," Aslanov said, adding that the organization will now "progressively" start resuming its work to help war victims.

The ICRC official added that the lift of the ban was a result of continuous engagement with the Taliban as well as other sides of the Afghan conflict.

Red Cross operations in Afghanistan include assistance to those wounded and taking them to hospitals, taking the bodies of those killed in battle to their families, helping those in captivity see or talk to their relatives and providing the rural population with safe drinking water.

Afghanistan has been ravaged by war for decades but the Taliban and the United States, which backing the government in Kabul, having been inching closer to a peace deal and there are discussions of possible direct talks between Kabul and the Taliban.