Attending the 12th annual meeting of Deputy Foreign Ministers of Central Asian states in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Deputy Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Markus Potzel has warned that international positions are hardening on Afghanistan.
Potzel who is also Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan has cautioned that international attention is diminishing and positions are hardening towards Afghanistan currently under Taliban rule.
“Regional cooperation and engagement [are] crucial” the UNAM deputy special envoy has noted, adding that it was important to have Afghanistan on the agenda in Central Asia.
His remarks come as no countries have recognized the Taliban government with more than a year passed since the group forcefully returned to power in August 2021.
Countering terrorism, respecting human rights, and forming an inclusive government in Afghanistan are some of the major conditions that the regional countries and the international community have set forth for the Taliban.
As yet, the Taliban have not succeeded in meeting any of these conditions.
Late in July, a US drone strike killed the leader of Al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in the capital Kabul where he enjoyed shelter under the Taliban rule – suggesting the group maintained close ties with the most notorious terrorist group.
For human rights, the Taliban have imposed severe restrictions on human rights, particularly women’s rights, and recently launched a large campaign of corporal punishments, including public execution.
The group has also failed to form an inclusive government as Afghanistan is still ruled by the Pashtun-dominated Taliban, mostly by leaders who are still on the sanction list of the United Nations Security Council.
