A Chinese envoy on Tuesday said American, British and Australian forces must be held accountable for violating human rights in Afghanistan during the past 20 years. 

"It must be pointed out that the United States and a few other countries, under the pretext of democracy and human rights, conducted military interventions in sovereign states, imposed their own models on countries with different history, culture, and national conditions," Ambassador Chen Xu, head of the Chinese Mission to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said.
  
"Such acts have seriously undermined the sovereignty and territorial integrity of those countries and brought severe disasters to their people. This indeed is a profound lesson," he added. 

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U.S.-led foreign forces, including those from the UK and Australia, invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and overthrew the Taliban's rule. After the foreign troops began their final withdrawal from Afghanistan in May, conflicts between Taliban fighters and Western-backed government forces escalated, with the Taliban taking control of Kabul on August 15.

As of April, an estimated 241,000 people had lost their lives as a direct result of the two-decade war in Afghanistan, including tens of thousands of civilians, according to the Costs of War Project run by the Watson Institute of Brown University. 

Last year, Australia's Chief of the Defense Force General Angus Campbell said there was credible evidence that his special forces unlawfully killed at least 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners. 

"It has been proven again that power politics and military means lead nowhere, which will only undermine regional security and stability and violate the human rights of local people," Chen said. 

The ambassador said China respects the will and choice of the Afghan people and the country's sovereign independence and territorial integrity. China will never interfere in Afghanistan's internal affairs and will always pursue a friendly policy toward all Afghans, he stressed. 

The most urgent task for Afghanistan is to restore peace, stability and order, Chen said. He called on the Taliban to follow through its positive remarks on forming an open and inclusive government and protecting women's rights. He also urged the group to adopt "moderate and prudent" domestic and foreign policies and curb all kinds of terrorist and criminal acts.

(Cover: U.S. soldiers stand guard as Afghan people wait at Kabul airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 16, 2021. /CFP)