The divided UN Security Council (UNSC) has failed to reach an agreement on whether to extend travel exemptions for 13 Taliban officials now governing Afghanistan.
UN diplomats said on Friday Russia and China want to allow all 13 to continue to travel while the US and Western nations are determined to cut the number to protest the Taliban's rollback of women's rights and failure to form an inclusive government as it promised.
Russia and China asked for more time on Friday evening to consider the latest US proposal, the Security Council diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because discussions have been private.
So, the travel ban will be restored on all 13 Taliban officials until Monday afternoon at the earliest when Russia and China must now respond to the US proposal.
Dozens of Taliban members have been on the UN sanctions blacklist for years, subject to a travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo.
But some Taliban officials were granted waivers so they could travel to participate in talks aimed at restoring peace and stability to Afghanistan.
READ MORE: Year to the ground: Taliban’s quest for elusive global legitimacy
Improved security
Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan last August 15 as US and NATO forces were in the final stages of their chaotic withdrawal from the country after 20 years, as many as 700 people have been killed and 1,400 wounded even though security, on the whole, has improved, according to a report last month by the UN political mission in Afghanistan.
It highlighted how women have been stripped of many of their human rights, barred from secondary education and subjected to restrictions on their movements.
In June, the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against the Taliban banned two Taliban officials from traveling in response to their crackdown on women –– Said Ahmad Shaidkhel, the acting deputy education minister, and Abdul Baqi Basir Awal Shah, also known as Abdul Baqi Haqqani, the acting Minister of Higher Education.
With the expiration of travel waivers for the remaining 13 Taliban officials looming, the United State on Thursday proposed re-imposing the travel ban on seven of them and keeping the exemption for six others, but limiting their travel only to Qatar, where US-Taliban talks have taken place, council diplomats said.
READ MORE: How smouldering discontent affects the Taliban rule in Afghanistan
Opposition to Russia, China
Russia and China made a rival proposal that all 13 Taliban officials be granted travel exemptions for 90 days, but only to go to Russia, China, Qatar and "regional countries," the diplomats said.
Russia and China objected to the US proposal, the diplomats said, and the United Kingdom, France and Ireland opposed the Russia-China proposal, insisting that the exemption can't continue for all 13 officials because of the Taliban's lack of progress on meeting its commitments on women, forming an inclusive government and other issues.
On Friday afternoon, diplomats said, the US revised its proposal which would ban travel for seven of the Taliban officials and keep the travel waivers for six others for 90 days with no geographic limits.
That's the proposal that Russia and China are now considering.
READ MORE: Dozens of economists urge US to free Afghanistan's frozen assets
Source: AP
The Taliban have marked the first anniversary of their return to power in Afghanistan with a national holiday.
"We fulfilled the obligation of jihad and liberated our country," said Niamatullah Hekmat on Monday.
He is a fighter who entered Kabul on August 15 last year just hours after then-president Ashraf Ghani fled the country.
Exactly a year ago, the group captured Kabul after their nationwide lightning offensive against government forces ended 20 years of US-led military invasion.
A chaotic withdrawal of foreign forces continued until August 31, with tens of thousands of people rushing to Kabul's airport hoping to be evacuated on any flight out of Afghanistan.
Images of crowds storming the airport, climbing atop aircraft – and some clinging to a departing US military cargo plane as it rolled down the runway – aired on news bulletins around the world.
READ MORE: How smouldering discontent affects the Taliban rule in Afghanistan
Authorities have so far not announced any official celebrations to mark the anniversary, but state television said it would air special programmes.
Taliban fighters, however, expressed happiness that their movement was now in power.
"The time when we entered Kabul, and when the Americans left, those were moments of joy," said Hekmat, now a member of the special forces guarding the presidential palace.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee1XYE14GCY[/embed]
A year in power
While Afghans acknowledge a decline in violence since the Taliban seized power, many Afghans continue to struggle to steer through many challenges, including rising prices.
"People coming to our shops are complaining so much of high prices that we shopkeepers have started hating ourselves," said Noor Mohammad, a shopkeeper from Kandahar, the de facto power centre of the Taliban.
For Taliban fighters, however, the joy of victory overshadows the current economic crisis.
"We might be poor, we might be facing hardships, but the white flag of Islam will now fly high forever in Afghanistan", said a fighter guarding a public park in Kabul.
READ MORE: Top Taliban leader hails 'freedom' in rare appearance to mark Eid
Source: AFP
Fast News
A US delegation discussed with Taliban officials efforts to enable the release of billions of dollars from Afghan central bank reserves, the State Department said.
The meeting, involving Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West and Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson, took place on Wednesday, the State Department said on Thursday in a release.
"The United States expressed the need to address the urgent humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. The two sides discussed ongoing efforts to enable the $3.5 billion in licensed Afghan central bank reserves to be used for the benefit of the Afghan people," the media note said.
The meetings took place after the conclusion of the Uzbekistan-hosted Tashkent Conference on Afghanistan on July 26.
The Taliban is seeking a way to unlock some of the country's foreign reserves — currently frozen by the United States — following a devastating earthquake in June, with the United States looking for assurances the money would go to help the population.
After taking over Afghanistan in July 2021, the Taliban sought international recognition but Western nations are reluctant to do so, citing humanitarian issues and freedom of expression.
READ MORE: US, Taliban discuss foreign reserves, aid for earthquake-hit Afghanistan
READ MORE: Russia hints it may recognise Taliban govt in Afghanistan
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
