KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The United Nations Security Council has updated its sanctions list records for four senior Taliban members, including the group’s prime minister, in a routine revision that leaves existing restrictions unchanged while refreshing key identifying details.
The council said on Monday that it had amended information relating to Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, the Taliban’s prime minister; Abdul Ghani Baradar, deputy prime minister for economic affairs; Amir Khan Muttaqi, foreign minister; and Hedayatullah Badri, minister of mines and petroleum.
The update includes changes to identity details such as alternative names and spellings, previous roles within the Taliban, and known places of residence.
The changes do not introduce new sanctions. All four men remain subject to existing measures, including a travel ban, asset freeze, and arms embargo, applied to individuals and entities associated with the Taliban under the council’s Taliban sanctions regime.
Such updates are periodically carried out to ensure that member states have accurate and up-to-date information to enforce sanctions, particularly in cases where individuals use multiple names or have held different positions over time.
The latest revisions follow a broader update in March 2026, when entries for 22 Taliban members were reviewed and updated. Those listed included senior figures across the group’s leadership structure, such as cabinet ministers, deputy prime ministers, and intelligence officials, all of whom continue to face international restrictions.
Taliban leaders have been under UN sanctions since 1998, during the group’s first period in power in Afghanistan. The current framework operates under Resolution 1988, adopted in 2011, which distinguishes between Taliban-related sanctions and those imposed on other regimes and requires regular reviews of listed individuals and entities.
Separately, the council recently extended for another year the mandate of the monitoring team responsible for overseeing the implementation of sanctions. The team gathers information from UN member states, tracks compliance, investigates possible violations, and submits regular reports to the council.
Despite the restrictions, the council has in recent years granted temporary exemptions to certain sanctioned Taliban figures, allowing temporary travel abroad. Figures including Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, Abdul Ghani Baradar, Sirajuddin Haqqani, Amir Khan Muttaqi, and Abdul Haq Wassiq have been permitted to attend international meetings, regional talks, or perform the Hajj pilgrimage.
The broader sanctions regime remains in force, despite repeated calls by Taliban authorities for it to be lifted. Members of the council remain divided on how to approach engagement with the Taliban leadership while maintaining pressure through existing measures.
