Monitoring Desk: The amendments reaffirm asset freezes, travel bans, and arms embargoes on 22 long-listed Taliban figures, many of whom hold key roles like prime minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund and deputy Abdul Ghani Baradar.
In past some of them had been travelling on Pakistani passports as reported in the media but this time they cannot enjoy this pleasure as Pakistan is already at war with Afghanistan over the issue of cross border terrorism coming from Afghan soil.
Updates included specifics such as diplomatic passport numbers and Kabul addresses, originally designated from 2001 to 2012 for threatening international peace. The Taliban rejected the changes as rights violations that hurt ordinary Afghans, amid global worries over women’s restrictions, terrorism ties, and lack of inclusive governance. Supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and defense minister Yaqoob Mujahid remain off the list.
The United Nations Security Council’s sanctions committee has recently updated its list of Taliban members and senior officials subject to UN sanctions, including travel bans, asset freezes, and arms restrictions.
According to the updated list, Hassan Akhund, the Taliban’s Prime Minister, Abdul Ghani Baradar, his Deputy for Economic Affairs, and the Taliban’s Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani are among the 22 senior Taliban figures currently sanctioned. Other officials named in the updated list include: Abdul Salam Hanafi, Deputy for Administrative Affairs Amir Khan Muttaqi, Foreign Minister Abdul Kabir, Minister of Refugees and Repatriation Abdul Latif Mansoor, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Mohammad Fazel Mazloom, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Abdul Baqi Haqqani, former Minister of Higher Education Din Mohammad Hanif, Minister of Economy Qudratullah Jamal, Deputy for Tourism, Ministry of Information and Culture Nouruddin Tarabi, Head of Disaster Management Mohammad Isa Akhund, Minister of Public Works Najibullah Haqqani, Minister of Urban Development Noor Mohammad Thaqib, Minister of Hajj and Religious Affairs Abdul Haq Wasiq, Head of Intelligence Kheirullah Kheirkhah, Governor of Maidan Wardak In addition, other Taliban members including Hamidullah Akhund, Azizur Rahman, Gul Agha Ishaqzai, Malik Nawroz, and Ahmad Zia Agha are also listed under UN Security Council sanctions.
The committee updated the list on March 9, highlighting that many ministers and senior officials of the Taliban administration are now subject to UN sanctions measures.
