Taliban Government Dominated By Officials On U.N. Security Council Sanctions List

 

(New York, N.Y.) – An analysis by Counter Extremism Project (CEP) Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, the former coordinator of the U.N. Security Council’s ISIL, Al-Qaida and Taliban Monitoring Team, has determined that more than half of the Taliban’s 33-member cabinet in Afghanistan are on the U.N. Security Council's (UNSC) terrorism blacklist. Among the 19 designated members of the interim government are Acting Prime Minister Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund and Haqqani network leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, who will serve as acting minister of the interior, a role in which he will have extensive authority over policing and legal matters.

 

This finding counters the Taliban’s claims of a new moderate government that will guarantee the rights and safety of its citizens and productively cooperate within the international community. If recognized by the U.N., the Taliban government could potentially receive hundreds of millions of dollars in aid that could instead be allocated towards terrorist activities.

 

“The Taliban interim government is dominated by individuals that the U.N. Security Council has designated and placed on its terrorism blacklist—a clear indication that the Taliban’s government will not advocate for a more moderate platform. These are not reformed leaders. The United Nations would be doing itself a great disservice should it recognize a Taliban regime that has not changed its behavior or positions since the 1990s,” said Schindler.

 

The interim cabinet also includes four of the five leaders known as the “Taliban Five” who were once held by the United States at Guantanamo Bay. They include Deputy Defense Minister Fazl Mohammad Mazloom, Information and Culture Minister Khairullah Khairkhwa, Borders and Tribal Affairs Minister Mullah Nurullah Nuri, and Intelligence Director Mullah Abdul Haq Wassiq. The fifth member of the group, Mohammad Nabi Omari, has been appointed as governor of eastern Khost Province.

 

To read CEP’s resource Taliban, please click here.

 

To read CEP’s resource Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund, please click here.

 

To read CEP’s resource on Sirajuddin Haqqani, please click here.

 

To read CEP’s resource on Fazl Mohammad Mazloom, please click here.

 

To read CEP’s resource on Khairullah Khairkhwa, please click here.

 

To read CEP’s resource Mullah Nurullah Nuri, please click here.

 

To read CEP’s resource Abdul Haq Wassiq, please click here.

###

Unsubscribe