Asylum rights of Sikhs, Hindus fleeing Afghan attacks must be respected: UN

The Islamic State terrorist organisation has stated that it carried out the attack on gurdwara in Kabul on Wednesday killing at least 25 people and injuring several people.

Asylum rights must be respected for Sikhs and Hindus who may be fleeing religious persecution in Afghanistan where a gurdwara was bombed this week killing at least 25 people, according to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

Asked at his briefing on Thursday specifically if Sikhs and Hindus who are are under attack there should be given asylum in India, he said, "The asylum regime, the refugee regime must be respected the world over."

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has opposed the Indian Citizenship (Amendment) Act that seeks to help religious minorities fleeing persecution in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh by providing expedited citizenship to Sikhs, Hindus and other non-Muslim minorities from those countries.

Earlier, Dujarric had issued a statement that Guterres condemned the attacks on the gurdwara.

"He expresses his deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and wishes a speedy recovery to those injured. The Secretary-General reiterates that attacks against civilians are unacceptable and those who carry out such crimes must be held accountable," Dujarric added.

The Islamic State terrorist organisation has stated that it carried out the attack on gurdwara in Kabul on Wednesday killing at least 25 people and injuring several people.

59% of all terrorist attacks in 2017 in 5 Asian countries: US report

The decline in terrorist violence was largely due to dramatically fewer attacks and deaths in Iraq, Nathan Sales, State Department coordinator of counterterrorism said.

Almost 59 per cent of all terrorist attacks in 2017 took place in five Asian countries, including India and Pakistan, a US report said Thursday.

The other three countries include Afghanistan, Iraq and the Philippines.

The total number of terrorist attacks worldwide last year decreased by 23 per cent. Similarly, the total deaths due to terrorist violence decreased by 27 per cent, according to the report.

The decline in terrorist violence was largely due to dramatically fewer attacks and deaths in Iraq, Nathan Sales, State Department coordinator of counterterrorism, said during a conference call with reporters Thursday.

"Although terrorist attacks took place in 100 countries in 2017, they were concentrated geographically. Fifty-nine percent of all attacks took place in five countries. Those are Afghanistan, India, Iraq, Pakistan, and the Philippines. Similarly, 70 per cent of all deaths due to terrorist attacks took place in five countries, and those are Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, and Syria," he said.

The annual State Department Country Report on Terrorism, he said, notes a number of major strides that the United States and its allies made to defeat and degrade terrorist organisations in 2017.

"We worked with allies and partners around the world to expand information sharing, improve aviation security, enhance law enforcement and rule of law capacities, and to counter terrorist radicalisation with a focus on preventing recruitment and recidivism," Sales said.

However, despite these many successes, the terrorist landscape grew more complex in 2017, he said. "ISIS, al-Qaida, and their affiliates have proven to be resilient, determined, and adaptable," Sales added.

He said foreign terrorist fighters were heading home from the war zones in Iraq and Syria or travelling to third countries to join ISIS branches there.

"We also are experiencing an increase in attacks by homegrown terrorists that is, people who have been inspired by ISIS but have never set foot in Syria or Iraq. We've seen ISIS-directed or ISIS-inspired attacks outside the war zone on soft targets and in public spaces like hotels, tourist resorts, and cultural sites," Sales said....Read More

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