Afghanistan's Taliban rulers have announced that they are cutting ties with 14 Afghan diplomatic missions abroad and will cease to accept consular documents issued by those missions, in a move likely to cause further difficulties for Afghan citizens living abroad.
Following the Taliban's return to power in August 2021 in the wake of the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces from Afghanistan, some diplomatic missions abroad continued to pledge allegiance to the former government.
The move, which takes effect immediately, was announced by the Taliban Foreign Ministry in a message posted on X on July 30.
It refers to passports, visas, and other consular documents issued by Afghan missions in London, Belgium, Berlin, Bonn, Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy, Greece, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Canada, and Australia.
The Taliban "has repeatedly urged the Afghan political and consular in European countries to engage with Kabul to at least address consular service-related issues of Afghans and provide better services for Afghan citizens," the statement said.
"Unfortunately, the actions of most of the missions are carried out arbitrarily, without coordination, and in explicit violation of the existing accepted principles," it said.
Afghans in the countries affected by the move were urged in the statement to seek consular and embassy services in the diplomatic missions controlled by the Taliban.
Afghan embassies in Pakistan, China, and Russia are among those controlled by the Taliban government. In October, Afghan diplomatic missions in Spain and the Netherlands publicly accepted to offer their services to the Taliban authorities in Kabul.
Afghanistan's Taliban government has not been recognized by any country in the world, many of its leaders are under international sanctions, and the country's seat at the United Nations is still occupied by former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's government.
However, countries such as China and Pakistan still have diplomatic missions in Kabul.
The UN has so far rejected the Taliban's bid for Afghanistan's seat in the organization three times.
