Taliban Hold Control 39 Afghan Embassys

UNSPLASH/Farid Ershad/Afghan ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - The Taliban government controlled 39 Afghan embassies and consulates globally three years after they took over Afghanistan.

No international government has officially recognized the Taliban government, even though China and the United Arab Emirates have received ambassadors in their capitals.

Many countries, especially Western countries including the United States, say the path to formal recognition of the Taliban will stall until they change course on women's rights and reopen secondary and university schools for girls and girls and give them full freedom.

The Taliban said it respects rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law and that restrictions on the banking sector as well as lack of recognition hinder their economy.

After the collapse of the government of the Afghan republic in 2021, foreign embassies fell apart from the many documents issued such as visas and passports which in some cases according to the Taliban cannot be admitted.

The Taliban have appointed its own diplomats to head several embassies, including ambassadors received in Abu Dhabi and Beijing as well as business attorneys in neighboring Pakistan.

On several missions, diplomats appointed under the previous administration collaborated with Taliban authorities.

"Thirty-nine embassies and diplomatic affairs are under central authority, namely the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," Taliban acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told a news conference in Kabul.

His ministry has sent dozens of diplomats to 11 countries in the past year, including Turkey, Russia, Iran, and Pakistan.

Muttaqi said Afghanistan would send a new ambassador to Uzbekistan this week and expect Russia to immediately remove the Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations.

In July, the Taliban said it had cut ties with Afghanistan's 14 diplomatic missions and insisted it would not recognize the passports and visas issued by the embassy, most of which are based in Europe.