Terrorism is one of the main challenges and serious threats to global peace, the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, said on Monday.
In a message on the first International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism, August 21, the UN chief said: “From Tajikistan to the United Kingdom, from Baghdad to Barcelona, these ruthless attacks have shaken us all to the core.
”No country can consider itself immune, with almost every nationality in the world falling victim to terrorist attacks.”
Referring to the terrorist attack on UN office in Iraq in 2003 that left 22 people killed, he noted that peacekeeping missions had been consistently under threat.
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“But after terrorist attacks, we rarely hear about those who were killed and injured; the ordinary women, men, girls and boys, who were going about their daily business when their lives ended or were changed forever.
“We rarely hear about their surviving families, friends and communities, who must learn to live with the burden of terrorism for their entire lives.”
The Secretary General called for support and assistance for victims of terrorism as ways of challenging the narrative of hatred and division that terrorism aims to spread.”