UN Security Council Updates Sanctions List to 22 Taliban Officials

The UN Security Council Sanctions Committee published an updated list on 19 Hoot of 22 senior Taliban officials subject to sanctions, down from 61 the previous year.

The new list adds Azizurrahman Abdulahad, third secretary at the Taliban embassy in the United Arab Emirates. It removes at least 39 names, including Shahabuddin Delawar, head of the Taliban Red Crescent Society; Abbas Stanekzai, deputy political minister of foreign affairs; Hamdullah Naumani, acting minister of urban development and housing; and several members of the Haqqani network such as Yahya Haqqani and Shams al-Rahman.

Prominent figures remaining on the list include Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund, Deputy Prime Ministers Abdul Ghani Baradar and Abdul Salam Hanafi, Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, Refugees Minister Abdul Kabir, and others such as Abdul Haq Waseeq, intelligence chief.

The sanctions, imposed under UN Security Council Resolution 1988, include asset freezes, travel bans requiring permission from the council, and arms embargoes. Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada is not on the list.

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, condemned the updated list as a 'violation of human rights' and 'repetition of a failed experience' with no results. He said the measures deprive individuals of rights without cause, limit officials' travel, harm international relations, and negatively affect the nation and its people, calling for the sanctions to be lifted.