The extension of travel exemption for 13 Taliban officials turned controversial in the UN Security Council

New Delhi: Al Jazeera reported on August 17, quoting Security Council diplomats as saying: “Russia and China’s proposal to extend travel ban exemptions for 13 Taliban officials for 90 days was rejected today by Britain, France, Albania and Ireland.”

China and Russia rejected the US offer to extend the travel ban exemption for six other Taliban senior members, only to travel to Qatar, Al Jazeera reported. The proposal to extend the exemption of the travel ban on 13 Taliban senior members by Russia and China is limited to certain countries, including China and Russia.

The Taliban’s travel ban exemption is supposed to end Friday, August 19, 2022. Previously, the UN Security Council had removed two other Taliban officials from the travel ban extension list.

Meanwhile, Kandahar province has reported that the Taliban held a consultation meeting on Thursday, August 18 with religious scholars and clerics. Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada also attended the meeting and addressed the delegates.

Reports suggest that a meeting of top Taliban leaders and senior clerics, held in southern Kandahar province on 18 August, "strongly condemned" the recent US drone strike in the Afghan capital of Kabul, private Hasht-e Sobh website and Kabul News channel (@kabulnewstv) have reported. The meeting was held at a wedding hall in Kandahar city. The US had said that the drone attack killed al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri.

A resolution issued after the meeting said that any neighbouring country that allowed the US drones to use its airspace was also "complicit in this crime," and warned it of "terrible consequences," the Kabul News added in the same thread.

The resolution further says that the Islamic Emirate has ensured security throughout the country and "all islands of power have been eliminated," and that the Taliban rule is not only in the interest of the region but also in the interest of the world; therefore, they should recognise it as a legitimate government, website Hasht-e Sobh in Dari language said.

According to the website, the resolution also instructs "religious figures who share controversial issues on social media networks" to stop such activity completely and refrain from causing "sedition".

He said that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban administration) will not allow anyone to interfere in its affairs, but it is ready to engage with the international community within the framework of Sharia rules, the state-run Bakhtar News Agency reported.

Second Deputy PM Abdus Salam Hanafi, Chief Justice Sheikh Abdul Hakim Haqqani, and Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi were some other top Taliban officials who spoke at the meeting. The meeting was attended by over 3,000 delegates that included senior Taliban officials, tribal leaders, Muslim clerics, officials and some other prominent people.

This meeting is being called within 20 days after the killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of the Al Qaeda group in Kabul’s security green zone, and 3 days after the first anniversary of the Taliban’s domination of Afghanistan.

It has been more than a year that the Taliban have been knocking on every possible door for collecting aid and support for gaining recognition but so far not much success.

Mohammad Khaled Hanafi, the acting Minister of Vice and Virtue, said in this meeting that Western and European countries have influenced the ideology of the people during the last two decades which needs to be redirected and Sharia laws to be implemented strictly with no compromising.

In this meeting, however, the businessmen expressed concerns over the limited investment opportunities compared to the past. This is the second major meeting held by the Taliban after taking over Afghanistan. The first meeting was held in Kabul with the presence of Hibatullah Akhundzada two months ago.