KABUL (Pajhwok): Peace will be an issue of vital importance to the incoming Afghan administration, says the UN secretary-general’s special representative.
Afghanistan awaits the outcome of the recent presidential election, as the poll panel struggles with a vote recount and audit process in some provinces.
Tadamichi Yamamoto told the UN Security Council on Monday: “When the election is completed with credibility, it will become a milestone in the history of establishing a representative political system of the country.”
With the election result yet to be unveiled, he said, efforts for peace continued.  The US-Taliban talks had resumed and efforts were ongoing for intra-Afghan dialogue, he noted.
Yamamato voiced alarm over increased attacks against humanitarian workers, such as the recent killings of American Anil Rhaj and Tetsu Nakamura.
“I am similarly concerned about the rise in threats and attacks against human rights defenders in Afghanistan and those with different political views,” he said in a statement from UNAMA. 
The Afghan government, seeking to achieve stability, was also focused on warding off terrorist threats, the UN representative informed the council.
Prior to the briefing, the Security Council unanimously voted to extend for a year the mandate of the Monitoring Team that supports its Afghanistan Sanctions Committee.
The team gathers information in connection with an asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo imposed on individuals, groups and entities associated with the Taliban.
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