The Afghan militants say they can bring “security and stability” where the US and NATO failed
The Taliban government of Afghanistan has demanded that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) remove all sanctions on its members and allow them to travel, in the interest of “dialogue and engagement” with the world.
In a statement on Saturday, a spokesman for the group called on the Security Council not to “use sanctions as a pressure tool.” One day earlier, the council failed to reach an agreement on extending a sanctions waiver allowing 13 senior Taliban officials to travel abroad to attend talks and conferences.
Some 135 Taliban officials were slapped with travel bans and asset freezes by the UNSC in 2011, but exemptions were granted to 13 of these officials in 2019 in order for them to attend peace talks in Qatar.
With the Taliban back in power after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, the UNSC’s members are deadlocked on how…
