Travel ban lifted for 4 Taliban officials by UNSC

KABUL (TOLOnews): The United Nations Security Council has temporarily lifted the travel ban on four officials of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

The UN Security Council’s Sanctions Committee said that the exemption for these interim government officials is for travel to Saudi Arabia.

The Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs, the acting Minister of Interior, the Director-General of Intelligence, and the acting Minister of Hajj and Religious Affairs are the Islamic Emirate officials who have received travel exemptions from the United Nations Security Council.

The UN Security Council’s Sanctions Committee wrote: “On 5 June 2024, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1988 (2011) approved travel ban exemption for Abdul Kabir Mohammad Jan (TAi.003), Abdul-Haq Wassiq (TAi.082), Noor Mohammad Saqib (TAi.110), and Sirajuddin Jallaloudine Haqqani (TAi.144) for their visit to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The purpose of the visit is to perform Hajj.”

Previously, the US State Department, in response to the acting interior minister’s trip to the United Arab Emirates, said that countries should host sanctioned members of the Islamic Emirate through a United Nations exemption process.

But what benefit would such exemptions have for the sanctioned interim government officials?

“The negative effects of sanctions impact the country and the people of Afghanistan, not the officials or the statesmen,” said Yousuf Amin Zazi, a military affairs expert.

“The ultimate goal of imposing sanctions on members of the interim government’s delegation is to implement strategic political interests in governance. I hope the interim government continues the dialogues based on a unified definition of Afghanistan’s national interests, leading to Afghanistan’s emergence from isolation,” said Mohammad Zalmai Afghan Yar, another military affairs expert.

The names of more than 24 Islamic Emirate officials are on the blacklist of the United Nations, the European Union, and the United States.

Although the Islamic Emirate has repeatedly called for the lifting of these sanctions on its officials, over the past two and a half years, not only have the names not been removed from the list, but additional names have also been added.