UN-Afghan Taliban love affair continues as violation of travel ban raises questions over sanctions enforcement

DND News

Afghan Taliban are involved not only in hosting global terrorists but have also failed to fulfil the promises they made under the Doha Peace Accord, including the formation of an all-inclusive government, holding elections and ensuring human rights, particularly women’s right to education and equality.

Several United Nations reports indicate that the Afghan Taliban regime has become increasingly dangerous for global peace and that drug production has surpassed previous global records. Even then, the love affair between the Afghan Taliban and the United Nations continues. An interesting feature of this love affair is that the Taliban continuously violate the UN Travel Ban and Sanctions Enforcement regime (2021–2026), but the UN has never taken any action against them.

According to the George W. Bush Institute’s Taliban Travel Tracker, sanctioned Taliban officials received more than 60 travel exemptions between August 2022 and January 2025. The Institute also documented travel without the required exemptions to Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

The UN Security Council’s own reporting provides further evidence:

• Eight international trips were reported in 2025 without accompanying exemption requests.
• Eighteen exemption requests were approved, six were not approved and one was withdrawn, according to the Committee’s 2025 annual reporting.
• Thirty-eight travel-exemption requests were approved through submissions by 11 member states between May 2024 and November 2025, according to the UN Monitoring Team.
• Approved destinations included Cameroon, China, India, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, the UAE and Uzbekistan.

The UN Monitoring Team also found that some exemption requests were submitted after travel had begun or while it was underway, contrary to the Committee’s guidelines.

The latest case concerns Abdul Haq Wasiq, the Taliban’s intelligence chief, who remains subject to a UN travel ban (TAi.082). The UN Monitoring Team recorded three approved exemptions for him during its 2024–2025 reporting period.

On October 19, 2026, the UN authorised Wasiq to visit Abu Dhabi for medical reasons from October 20 to November 3. His reported travel involving Türkiye and subsequent participation in the SCO Plus security dialogue in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on November 6, 2026, raise further questions. The publicly identified UAE exemption did not automatically authorise travel to these other destinations, and separate approvals have not been verified.

The evidence reveals a growing tension between international sanctions enforcement and regional diplomatic and intelligence cooperation. While the UN continues to authorise travel through formal exemptions, documented journeys without exemptions and repeated procedural failures demonstrate weaknesses in implementation.

Three questions require answers:

1. Why were sanctioned Taliban officials permitted to travel without the required exemptions to Bahrain, the UAE, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, and what consequences followed?
2. Did Türkiye and Uzbekistan obtain separate UN authorisations for Wasiq’s latest reported journeys, or did they permit his entry without the required approval?
3. If the UN has documented eight trips without accompanying exemption requests and repeated late submissions, what concrete enforcement measures have been taken against non-compliance?

The central question is whether the UN travel ban remains an effective international restriction or is gradually being undermined by regional diplomatic and intelligence interests.

List of promises given by Afghan Taliban in Doha Peace Accord and factual status of the issues