The U.N. Security Council on Monday called for talks to create a new government in Afghanistan and an end to fighting and abuse after U.N. chief Antonio Guterres warned of “chilling” curbs on human rights and mounting violations against women and girls.

The 15-member council issued a statement, agreed by consensus, after Guterres appealed to the body to “use all tools at its disposal” to suppress a global terrorist threat from Afghanistan and guarantee respect for human rights.

“We cannot and must not abandon the people of Afghanistan,” Guterres told the Security Council.

The Taliban entered the capital Kabul on Sunday and President Ashraf Ghani left Afghanistan, the culmination of a rapid offensive by the Islamist militants to take back the country 20 years after they were ousted by a U.S.-led invasion.

The return to Taliban rule came as U.S. and other foreign forces were leaving the country after two decades.

The Security Council stressed the importance of combating terrorism in Afghanistan to ensure other countries were not threatened or attacked, and said “that neither the Taliban nor any other Afghan group or individual should support terrorists operating on the territory of any other country.”

It called for an immediate cessation of all hostilities and the establishment, through inclusive negotiations, of a new government that should include women.

U.S.-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taliban from power in 2001 for refusing to hand over al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. _Reuters