UN mission says latest Kabul suicide attack amount to war crime

KABUL, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has warned that the recent Kabul deadly suicide attack may amount to a war crime, the UN mission said on Monday.

The mission released its preliminary findings into the Jan. 4 suicide attack in Kabul, where the Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility a body-borne improvised explosive device, that killed at least 13 people including Afghan security forces and injured 19 others, after the arrival of anti-riot police following hours' violent disturbance between security officials and shopkeepers.

"Twelve of the 13 slain were police officials, performing legitimate law enforcement functions of helping to restore order and safety for civilians during a violent incident," said the mission.

"UNAMA reminds all parties that Afghan National Police personnel are regarded as civilians unless they are directly participating in hostilities. The officers killed in the attack were not engaged in the armed conflict. Civilians may never be the object of an attack at any time or in any place," it said, warning the indiscriminate explosive devices, almost certainly to cause immense suffering to civilians, may amount to war crimes.

More than 2,640 civilians were killed and over 5,370 others injured in conflict-related incidents in first nine months of 2017, according to UNAMA's figures. Enditem