Afghanistan Foundation Condemns Boston Bombings

Afghanistan Foundation Condemns Boston Bombings, Calls for Swift Justice

April 15, 2013, Washington, D.C., Boston, and Kabul, Afghanistan

The Afghanistan Foundation is condemning the terrorist bombings in Boston and calling for the terrorist attackers to be brought to swift justice to prevent further attacks in the United States.

“We condemn in the strongest terms today’s terrorist bombing in Boston that has left scores of people wounded and others dead,” said Philip Smith, President and Executive Director of the Kabul and Washington, D.C.-based Afghanistan Foundation. “We are calling on President Obama and the U.S. government, as well as the international community, including the governments of Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East, to fully cooperate in preventing further bloody attacks on American soil and to seek to fully investigate and swiftly bring to justice those responsible for this horrific attack on America.”

“The terrorists responsible for the bombings targeted the innocent, including women and children, and have left a wake of bloodshed and carnage on the streets of Boston that will never be forgotten,” Smith lamented. “The attackers and their supporters need to be brought to justice swiftly to prevent further terrorist plots and attacks in the United States.”

Smith continued: “Once the terrorists, foreign or domestic, are identified and brought to justice, there will be little sympathy for those responsible for this unwarranted attack that specifically targeting unarmed American civilians.”

“Extremist and terrorist groups who many contemplate, or wish to endorse, this terrible attack on the innocent in Boston should also beware that any misguided statements will be most unwelcome and viewed harshly by the United States and international community,” Smith said.

“It is unclear as to whether or not bombing in Boston are linked to militant or terrorist groups in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya or the Middle East, “Smith observed. “But, it is a very strong possibility, especially given the presence of Afghanistan and Pakistani nationals as well as Middle Eastern students and immigrants in the Boston area some of whom, a small percentage, harbor radical and violent anti-American sentiments.”

“The militant and international terrorist organizations based in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East, as well as their sympathizers and affiliates, may very well be linked to the Boston attacks,” Smith stated.

“However, it is key that at least one prominent militant group in Afghanistan and Pakistan has already denied responsibility for the bombing in Boston, which was noted with interest by policymakers in Washington, D.C. , and internationally,” Smith commented further.

“It is also noteworthy that Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai, who has significant links to the Boston area through his brother Mahmoud Karzai and other family members, has expressed grief over the attacks and offered his sympathy to the American families of the terrorist bombings,” continued Smith.

“Having suffered from terrorist attacks and civilian casualties for years, our people feel better the pain and suffering arising from such incidents," President Karzai reportedly stated in response to the Boston attacks, according to Agence France Press (AFP) and other sources.

A spokesman for one of the Taliban factions in Pakistan, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has denied responsibility for the Boston bombings according to sources in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“At present, there is a deafening silence after the blasts in Boston: Key factions and militants in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East, including designated terrorist organizations, have kept silent, or not yet commented, on the attacks in Boston,” Smith concluded.

Dozens of participants and spectators of the Boston Marathon were wounded, and at least 3 killed, in a series of deadly bomb explosions on Monday.

The Afghanistan Foundation was founded prior to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, with the mission of helping to educate policymakers and the general public about the nation of Afghanistan, its people, culture and history. www.afghanistan-foundation.org

ENDS

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