Russia Doesn’t Support UNSG’s Decision to Appoint Special Representative for Afghanistan

Mohammad Mahdiyar informed Afghanistan International that two youths were killed, and one was injured in the incident.

Mahdiyar said that on December 20, Taliban members stopped his son and two other young men in western Kabul, and opened fire at them.

He said that a week after the incident, the Taliban handed over his son's corpse to his relatives. Mahdiyar added that the Taliban warned his family to bury the body of “Ali Juma” quietly, without holding any ceremony.

When local elders questioned Taliban officials in the 13th police district of Kabul about the reason for shooting these three young men, they were told that the individuals were killed due to “insulting the Mujahideen”.

Ali Juma's family also sent pictures of these shot young men to Afghanistan International.

Return from Iran to Kabul

This former Afghan army member stated that, following the Taliban's takeover of power, he and his family had to flee to Iran out of fear of retaliation.

However, his son returned to Kabul so that he could participate in the national university entrance examination and begin his studies.

The family of Ali Juma is urging the United Nations and the international community to intervene, to put an end to the Taliban's serial killings in Afghanistan and ensure justice for the victims.

Samdiyarov said that Astana has decided to exclude the group in the new update, in accordance with the UN practice.

Quoting the country’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Kazinform News Agency wrote that the country regularly updates the national list of terrorist organisations which are banned in Kazakhstan, and as a part of this process, it has been decided to exclude Taliban from this list now.

At the same time, Samdiyarov emphasised that the diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and the Taliban depend on the decisions and resolutions of the Security Council and the United Nations General Assembly, and the country will strictly adhere to them.

In reaction to Kazakhstan’s decision, Zamir Kabulov, Russia's special representative for Afghanistan, stated that while his country respects Astana's decision, Moscow has not yet decided to remove the name of the Taliban from the list of banned groups.

On Friday, in an interview with Russian media, NCN, Kabulov said that his country "will not negotiate" on this issue of removing the name of the Taliban from the list of terrorist groups.

He emphasised that no actions or negotiations will be undertaken to remove the Taliban from the list of banned organisations until the Russian leadership takes a decision on this matter.

According to these media reports, Bayramov made this announcement during a press conference in Baku.

"APA" and "Trend" news agencies wrote on Thursday that Azerbaijan's diplomatic mission will open in several other countries over the new year.

Azerbaijan’s Report News Agency reported that, in accordance with the decree signed by the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, on July 28, 2021, Ilham Mammadov has been appointed as the ambassador of Azerbaijan to Afghanistan.

While the Taliban has not provided any information about the opening of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Afghanistan, the group had previously expressed its interest in strengthening relations with Azerbaijan.

During the armed conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia this year, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, in an interview with CBC Azerbaijan TV said that the group places importance on the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and extends its support.

Mujahid had announced that the Taliban is prepared to cooperate with Azerbaijan, expressing the desire for the embassy of Azerbaijan to commence operations in Kabul and for diplomatic representatives of the Taliban to be accepted in Baku.

The order has been issued following a complaint from the Taliban embassy in Islamabad.

Dawn newspaper wrote that the complaint was lodged in a meeting between the officials of the Taliban’s embassy in Islamabad and Pakistani authorities.

As per the report, the Taliban conveyed during a meeting with Pakistani officials that two Afghan immigrants with residence permits were subjected to harassment and threats at a police station in Rawalpindi, where demands for money were also made.

The report also stated that an Afghan child, who had a Proof of Registration Card (PoR), had been killed as the result of torture by several people.

The Taliban have said that the Pakistani police addressed the killing of this child under a wrong first police investigation report (FIR) and declined to impose punishment on the suspects.

It has been said that the investigation has begun against Rawalpindi police officers and officials who are accused of persecuting Afghan immigrants.

This is despite the fact that in the past few months, Afghanistan International has also received numerous reports of harassment by the police during the deportation of undocumented Afghan immigrants from Pakistan. Several human rights and refugee support organisations have also confirmed the reports of police harassment against Afghan immigrants.

At this meeting, the United Nations is expected to vote on a draft resolution regarding the assessment of Feridun Sinirlioğlu, the UN Special Coordinator for Afghanistan.

The draft of this resolution has been prepared by Japan and the United Arab Emirates.

On November 9, in a letter to the Security Council, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres presented a report of the UN Special Coordinator’s assessments.

In his report, he emphasised that adhering to international obligations and initiating the process towards establishing an inclusive constitution would pave the way for normalising global relations with the Taliban.

The UN Secretary-General also addressed the human rights situation in Afghanistan.

In April, the UN appointed Feridun Sinirlioglu, a Turkish diplomat, to lead the assessment and asked him to submit his report by November.

In his report, the UN coordinator has made several suggestions, including the implementation of measures to address the needs of the Afghan people, a focus on issues affecting the security and stability of both the region and the world, the formulation of a roadmap for Afghanistan's full integration into the international community, and the fulfilment of its international obligations. Furthermore, he proposed the establishment of mechanisms to coordinate and monitor the implementation of UN coordinator’s recommendations.

The new resolution, which will be put to the vote today, will also advocate for the appointment of a special representative for Afghanistan. This special representative is expected to play a role in facilitating interaction between international and Afghan stakeholders, promoting coordination. Additionally, advancing intra-Afghan peace talks will be a key aspect of the mission assigned to the United Nations Special Representative.

Taliban’s foreign minister had previously rejected the appointment of a UN special representative for peace talks in Afghanistan.