A Taliban envoy has been sent to neighbouring Pakistan to take charge of the Afghan embassy, two months after the group seized power, officials said Friday.
Sardar Ahmad Khan Shokaib was appointed as first secretary in Islamabad, while Taliban officials are also now in place at consulates in Peshawar, Karachi and Quetta. The new Taliban rulers have yet to be formally recognised by any foreign government, including Pakistan, meaning Shokaib cannot assume the title of ambassador. “These diplomats will take care of the affairs in the embassy and in the three consulates,” a Taliban source told AFP. “They will formally take charge on Monday,” a source close to the Peshawar consulate added. The last ambassador of the Afghan embassy was withdrawn by the former US-backed government several months ago following the alleged kidnapping of his daughter in leafy Islamabad. A spokesman for Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the move would allow the embassy to perform consular functions, with the country hosting millions of Afghan refugees. “I understand they have made similar appointments in their embassies in some other countries,” the spokesman added.
The spokesman said the appointment was mainly about ensuring consular functions, adding: “There are millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan and there are visa issues as well.” Two Afghan officials were also appointed to run the consulates in the Pakistani cities of Quetta and Peshawar, close to the two major border crossings with Afghanistan.
“We understand that Pakistan has not yet recognised us as a legitimate government but we made these arrangements for public facilitations,” a senior Taliban leader told Reuters on condition of anonymity. No comment was immediately available from Taliban spokesmen in Kabul. Two other Taliban officials in the foreign affairs and interior ministries confirmed the appointment and said similar arrangements had been made in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
No country has given formal recognition to the Taliban, who ousted the Western-backed government in Kabul in August, and Afghanistan’s embassies are largely still run by ambassadors appointed by the previous government, many of whom are outspoken critics of the Taliban. Pakistan has long faced US accusations of playing a double game in Afghanistan and has historically had close ties to the Taliban leadership.
Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government has called on the world to engage with the Taliban and provide economic support to the aid-dependent country which has seen funding frozen by Western donors since the takeover.
Reports also emerged on Friday that Afghanistan’s Taliban government is pressing for the release of billions of dollars of central bank reserves as the drought-stricken nation faces a cash crunch, mass starvation and a new migration crisis. Afghanistan parked billions of dollars in assets overseas with the US Federal Reserve and other central banks in Europe, but that money has been frozen since the Taliban ousted the Western-backed government in August.
