NEW YORK - The United Nations Security Council yesterday condemned in the strongest possible terms the suicide attack that occurred on 3 August beside the Indian consulate in Jalalabad, the capital of the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar, and led to multiple civilian casualties.

“Members of the Security Council underlined the need to bring perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism to justice,” added the Council statement, which was read out to the media at UN Headquarters in New York by Ambassador Maria Cristina Perceval of Argentina, which holds the rotating Council presidency for August.

The statement also expressed “deep sympathy and sincere condolences to the families of the victims of this heinous act.”

The Security Council statement echoed a similar condemnation issued on Sunday by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). Overall, a dozen people were killed, including eight civilians. Another 23 others were injured.

During the attack, a suicide attacker detonated a car full of explosives after an accomplice was shot dead by local security forces while trying to remove a security barrier to the consulate premises. Several buildings in the vicinity were damaged, with the explosion killing numerous people, including children who were reportedly visiting an adjacent mosque to attend a lesson on the teachings of Islam.

According to media reports, so far no group has taken responsibility for Saturday’s attack. The attack was the most deadly in a recent series of bombings that have shaken Jalalabad. Today, an improvised explosive device (IED) was reportedly detonated beside a truck carrying Afghan National Security Forces as it made its way through the city centre.

The killings come in the wake of UNAMA’s most recent Mid-Year Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in Afghanistan, released last week. That study documented a 23 per cent rise in the number of civilian casualties over the first six months of 2013 compared to the same period last year, reversing the decline observed in 2012.

The report observed that the main factors driving the increase in the number of deaths and injuries to Afghan civilians this year were the increased use of IEDs by Anti-Government Elements, particularly in areas populated or frequented by civilians, and an increase in civilian casualties from ground engagements between Afghan armed forces and Anti-Government Elements.

The report also noted that children were frequent victims of the violence, with 760 child casualties documented during the first six months of 2013 – 231 killed and 529 injured – up 30 per cent from last year.