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The Islamic Festival of Victims in Afghanistan is not a good star: A car bomb exploded in the province of Logar shortly before the ceasefire. The corona virus is also worrying.
By Bernd Musch-Borowska, ARD Studio New Delhi
A heavy attack and then a little peace for the sacrifice festival. In Afghanistan, a three-day ceasefire came into force just in time for the Islamic holiday Eid-al Adha. The Taliban announced the ceasefire earlier this week, and President Ashraf Ghani had also ordered government forces to stop fighting.
But just before the fire break began, a car bomb exploded in the central Afghan province of Logar last night. Apparently there were many deaths. According to various provincial councils, at least 18 people have been killed and dozens more have been injured, it said. The Taliban, who are active in the province, immediately denied responsibility for the attack.
There has been a significant increase in violence across the country in recent months. Despite preparations for the planned peace talks between the government and the Taliban, more than 1200 civilians, including children, were killed in the first half of the year, according to the United Nations. This number is lower than in previous years, said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN Secretary General in a video message. Afghanistan remains one of the deadliest conflicts for the civilian population worldwide.
There were fewer civilian casualties than in the same period last year, mainly because the international armed forces in Afghanistan have reduced their operations and there have been fewer attacks by the Islamic State. According to the latest report from the UN mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, this does not apply to government forces and the Taliban. The director of UNAMA, Deborah Lyons, therefore calls on all sides to stop fighting and come to the negotiating table.
This year the sacrifice festival is overshadowed by a danger of a completely different kind. The corona pandemic is causing the Kabul markets to be much less busy than usual, as was seen on footage from the AP news agency.
For many sheep and goats that are brought to the slaughterhouse on the occasion of the sacrifice festival, there were no buyers this year. The business was bad, complained a sheep dealer who found it difficult to get rid of his animals. "A lot of people lost their jobs due to the corona lockdown. Normally you would expect a lot of customers for the sacrifice festival, but there is hardly anything going on here and business is going badly."
The Afghan authorities fear that the victim festival, which traditionally brings families and friends together, could increase the number of corona infections. Officially, there are currently almost 36,000 cases across the country.
"The spread of the virus in our country has stabilized and if people are cooperative and stick to the measures in the next few weeks, we may even see a decrease in infections," said Akmal Samsor, spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Health. "But now it is Eid-al Adha and it can happen that the numbers go up again after the holidays."
The President of the Afghan Medical Association, Sayed Khalid Rashid, also called for compliance with the corona protective measures. He said on Afghan television that the country would otherwise be in disaster.
