The Taliban on Tuesday (July 30) disavowed many Afghan diplomatic missions abroad, saying they would not honour passports, visas, and other documents issued by diplomats associated with Afghanistan’s former Western-backed administration.
In a statement posted on X, the Taliban foreign ministry said that documents issued by missions in London, Berlin, Belgium, Bonn, Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy, Greece, Poland, Australia, Sweden, Canada and Norway were no longer accepted and that the ministry “bears no responsibility” for those documents.
How will Afghan nationals access consular services?
The ministry said that people in these countries would need to approach embassies and consulates controlled by the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) government instead.
“All Afghan nationals living abroad and foreigners can visit the IEA political and consular missions in other countries, other than the above-mentioned missions, to access consular services,” the ministry added.
Latest attempt to seize control of diplomatic missions
Tuesday’s statement by Afghanistan’s foreign ministry is being seen as the latest attempt to seize control of diplomatic missions since seizing power (in Afghanistan) in 2021.
Notably, Afghanistan’s seat at the United Nations (UN) is still held by the former government that was led by Ashraf Ghani.
In March last year, the Taliban said that they were trying to take charge of more Afghan embassies abroad. Some countries retain an active diplomatic mission in Afghanistan, including Pakistan and China.
(With inputs from agencies)
Harshit Sabarwal
Source link : https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/taliban-disavow-many-afghan-diplomatic-missions-abroad-745574
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Publish date : 2024-07-30 06:04:35
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