Afghan Opposition Group Says UN Plan Sidelines Key Stakeholders, Aids Taliban

The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) has criticised the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) for its latest proposal on the country’s political future, calling it “short-sighted” and a move that risks further marginalising key Afghan stakeholders.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the AFF claimed that the UN’s new framework appears aimed at “whitewashing the Taliban” and would hinder prospects for lasting peace by excluding significant political groups from the process. The group warned that the plan could deepen divisions and repeat the failures of past peace efforts, including the 2001 Bonn Conference.

The UN framework reportedly centres on three main pillars: the formation of an inclusive government, efforts to combat terrorist networks, and the promotion of human rights including the reopening of schools and universities, and the creation of safe working environments for women.

The AFF took particular issue with the narrowing of political engagement to the Doha Process, the “illegitimate Taliban emirate,” and selected representatives of civil society. It argued that such a limited approach undermines the potential for achieving a broad-based and legitimate resolution to Afghanistan’s crisis.

To date, the UN has not held formal talks with Afghan opposition groups such as the AFF or the National Resistance Front (NRF), choosing instead to engage solely with the Taliban. This has drawn criticism from groups who say the UN is sidelining meaningful opposition voices.

The Taliban, for its part, has refused to attend previous UN-hosted summits due to the inclusion of civil society and political opposition groups, insisting that it alone represents Afghanistan in international forums.

The AFF also condemned the Taliban’s stance on elections, its alleged human rights violations, and its reported ties to international terrorist groups. It argued that current peace initiatives especially those based on the Doha framework fail to reflect Afghanistan’s complex political and social realities.

The group warned that any effort to engage with the Taliban while excluding other stakeholders will be ineffective and unsustainable. It called for any normalisation of relations with the Taliban to be made conditional on a series of benchmarks: respect for human rights, the immediate reversal of bans on women’s education and employment, the formation of an inclusive government, and the development of a transitional roadmap leading to a legitimate, elected administration with fair ethnic representation.

The AFF also urged the appointment of a United Nations Special Coordinator for Afghanistan, as mandated by UN Security Council Resolution 2127.

The Taliban has rejected this proposal, claiming that the current UN mission in Afghanistan is adequate and that no additional envoy is necessary.