The UNSC plans to send a mission to Afghanistan in November to study the deteriorating situation on the ground in the wake resurgence of Taliban militants.
UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council plans to send a mission to Afghanistan in November to study the deteriorating situation on the ground in the wake resurgence of Taliban militants.
Voicing "alarm" over deteriorating security situation and threat posed by growing production of illegal drugs, Japan's UN envoy and council president Kenzo Oshima said the mission would give a message about UN's commitment to bring peace to the war torn country.
The press statement followed briefings to the Council by Tom Koenigs, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan, and Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on the situation prevailing there.
UNODC released a survey last month that showed illicit opium production in Afghanistan has increased to a record 6,100 tons this year, a rise of 49 per cent on last year's figures. Afghanistan now accounts for 92 per cent of the world's supply of opium, the raw material used to make heroin.
Oshima expressed regret at the casualties suffered by Afghan and international forces, as well as civilians, as a result of attacks by the Taliban, Al-Qaida and other groups.
The Council members, he said, remain convinced that the best way to solve the interconnected problems of security, governance, development and the illegal drug trade is to continue to build "sound and resilient institutions," strengthen the rule of law and tackle corruption.
The Council, the statement said, welcomes the recent extension of the presence of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) into new provinces.
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