The UN Security Council on Saturday urged the world community to actively cooperate with Pakistan on defeating the menace of terrorism by holding perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of the acts of terrorism accountable and bringing them to justice.
“The members of the Security Council underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice, and urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with the Government of Pakistan and all other relevant authorities in this regard,” according to a press statement issued by the 15-member council.
The UNSC condemned ‘in the strongest terms’ the cowardly terrorist attack in Quetta, where a powerful bomb blast at a hotel’s parking lot had left five people dead and many other injured on Wednesday, and called for bringing the perpetrators to justice. The council noted that the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), had claimed the responsibility for the deadly attack.
“The members of the Security Council expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and to the Government of Pakistan, and they wished a speedy and full recovery to those who were injured,” the statement said. “The members of the Security Council reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security,” it added.
“The members of the Security Council reiterated that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed,” the statement read. “They reaffirmed the need for all States to combat by all means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and other obligations under international law, including international human rights law, international refugee law and international humanitarian law, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts,” it added.
Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had also strongly condemned the attack, and reaffirmed UN’s solidarity with Pakistan.
Meanwhile, the police investigation team has made key progress in investigation of Wednesday’s bomb blast at Quetta’s Serena Chowk. “The suicide bomber in the terrorist attack was a foreign national,” police sources said. “Body parts of the suicide bomber were sent for DNA test,” sources said. “No record of the bomber found in the database of NADRA,” officials said. “Further investigation of the suicide bombing incident has been underway,” they added.
The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) had on Thursday confirmed that the Serena Chowk blast was a suicide attack. A spokesperson of the CTD said that the initial investigation proved that the blast that claimed five lives and injured 10 others in the parking lot of a hotel was a suicide attack. The investigators were inquiring into in the incident with different angles, an official said. The case of the blast was registered at the CTD police station under charges of murder, attempt to murder and terrorism on the complaint of the local police.
