Several Arab and Western countries have decided to close their embassies in Kabul due to “security threats” with diplomats of Saudi Arabia have already left Afghanistan, the Al Arabiya television channel said on Sunday.
Zabehullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, has confirmed that diplomats of Saudi Arabia have left Kabul. He, however, added that they will return after receiving “training” soon and rejected the closure of the country’s consulate.
The CNN-News18, meanwhile, reported that Saudi Arabia was forced by the Taliban’s ban on women staff to close its “embassy” in Kabul. “The reason is the prohibition of female workers in Afghanistan. Some females were working there (at the embassy). One of the big reasons is Mujahideen prohibited them to enter the embassy,” a diplomatic source told to the Indian news channel.
Saudi Arabi closed its embassy in Kabul after the Taliban recaptured Kabul in August 2021 and reopened its consular section late in November 2021 to provide consular services to the Afghan people who mostly go to the Arab country on religious visits and employment purposes.
Though all western countries closed their embassies in Kabul, the US reached an agreement with Qatar in November 2021 to open a “ U.S. interest section” within Qatar’s embassy in Kabul. The European Union still holds a “delegation” unit in Kabul. No country has so far officially recognized the Taliban government in Afghanistan but a number of countries, including Qatar and UAE, have kept their embassies open in Kabul.
