No: 240, 15 July 2014

We have learned with sorrow that according to initial reports 89 people lost their lives and at least 40 people were wounded in the suicide attack perpetrated with a bomb-laden vehicle in a crowded marketplace in the Orgun District of Afghanistan's Paktika Province today (15 July).

These terrorist acts are aimed at discouraging the people of Afghanistan who showed their belief in a stable and prosperous future in the elections, which are the most fundamental manifestation of national will, and who resolutely went to polls in the face of extremist currents and violence. We are fully convinced that such acts will not reach their goals. The people of Afghanistan have proved that they can overcome all obstacles to live in peace.

We wish God's mercy upon those who lost their lives in this attack aimed at disturbing the historical process that Afghanistan is going through, convey our condolences to their families and hope for a speedy recovery of the wounded.