Taliban in control of 39 Afghan embassies globally

Members of Afghanistan's delegation, led by the Taliban-run government's Acting Labour and Social Affairs Minister Abdul Hanan Omari, attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia June 5, 2024. /Anton Vaganov/File Photo

KABUL - The Taliban administration is in control of 39 Afghan embassies and consulates globally three years after it took over Afghanistan and the previous Western-backed government collapsed, the acting foreign ministry said on Thursday.

No international government has formally recognised the Taliban administration, though China and the United Arab Emirates have officially accepted its ambassadors in their capitals.

Many governments, especially Western nations including the United States, have said the path to any formal recognition of the Taliban will be stuck until they change course on women's rights and re-open high schools and universities to girls and women and allow their full freedom of movement.

The Taliban say they respect rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law and that restrictions on its banking sector and a lack of recognition are hindering its economy.

After the collapse of Afghanistan's republic government in 2021, foreign embassies were thrown into disarray with many issuing documents such as visas and passports that in some cases the Taliban have said should not be recognised.

The Taliban has appointed its own diplomats to head several embassies, including ambassadors accepted in Abu Dhabi and Beijing and a charge d'affaires in neighbouring Pakistan. At some missions, diplomats appointed under the previous government work with Taliban authorities.

"Thirty-nine embassies and diplomatic affairs obey the central authority, namely the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," said the Taliban's acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi at a press conference in Kabul.

He added that his ministry had 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 expected Russia to remove the Taliban from its list of terrorist organisations "soon".

In July, the Taliban said it was cutting ties with at least 14 Afghan diplomatic missions, adding it would not honour passports and visas issued by those embassies, mostly based in Europe.

-Reuters