Kabul [Afghanistan], August 20 (ANI): As United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is reportedly caught in a dilemma over whether to renew travel exemptions for Taliban officials, the Taliban on Saturday said that some bigoted western circles are deliberately trying to create a distance between Afghanistan and the world.
“UNSC member states should know that some bigoted western circles are deliberately trying to create distance between Afghanistan and the world, are provoking Afghans to take a stern stance in response which is not in the interest of anyone,” a statement by Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan said.
A United Nations waiver allowing 13 Afghan Taliban officials to travel abroad expired on Friday, as the Security Council failed to reach an agreement on whether to extend the travel exemptions.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has asked the UN Security Council not to use “sanctions as a tool of pressure”. Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a tweet said that if the travel of officials of the Islamic Emirate is banned, this will create a distance between Afghanistan and the world.
Taliban noted that it was agreed in the Doha Agreement that all sanctions shall be removed from IEA leadership and a clause that should be implemented in full. “If the travel ban is extended, it will create distance instead of promoting dialogue and engagement, an outcome that must be prevented,” MoF spokesman Balkhi said.
“An Afghanistan where US, NATO & fifty nations with full strength failed to establish peace & stability, today’s security & stability therein is in the interest of the whole world,” the statement added.
Two of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Russia and China suggested renewing the travel exemption of 13 Taliban officials for another 90 days, however, the request was turned down by Britain, France, Albania, and Ireland, Khaama Press reported citing Security Council diplomats.
Moreover, Ireland has also resisted a 30-day rollover, Ned Price tweeted late on Wednesday. Notably, two Taliban education officials had their travel privileges cancelled because the Taliban restricted access of women and girls to education, even though 13 others had their travel ban waivers renewed earlier for at least two months, to expire on August 19, according to Khaama Press.
Earlier, the UN Security Council (UNSC) gave leaders of the Islamic Emirate exemptions to travel bans to facilitate their negotiations with the US despite its long-standing international travel ban on the Taliban leaders.
Since the Taliban seized power in Kabul last year, the human rights situation has been exacerbated by a nationwide economic, financial and humanitarian crisis of unprecedented scale.
Acts of terror, killings, blasts and attacks have become a regular affair with unabated human rights violations involving ceaseless murder of civilians, destroying mosques and temples, assaulting women, and fueling terror in the region.
The Taliban dismantled the system to respond to gender-based violence, created new barriers to women accessing health care, blocked women’s aid workers from doing their jobs, and attacked women’s rights protesters.
With the US troops’ withdrawal from the country, large-scale violence has been unleashed creating political uncertainty in different parts of the country. At least 59 per cent of the population is now in need of humanitarian assistance – an increase of 6 million people compared with the beginning of 2021, according to UNAMA. (ANI)
This report is auto-generated from ANI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.