Afghanistan’s embassy in London will close at the end of the month due to the Taliban government sacking all the staff.
The closure follows an announcement by the Taliban in July that it would no longer recognise embassies set up by the previous regime, including the mission in Princes Gate, Kensington.
Afghan ambassador to the UK Zalmai Rassoul said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that the embassy will close on September 27 ‘at the official request of the host country’.
He added: ‘We thank and appreciate all colleagues, citizens, and related institutions who have sincerely co-operated with the Afghan Embassy in London during this period.’
A spokesman for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: ‘The embassy is being closed following the dismissal of its staff by the Taliban.’
Afghanistan’s embassy in Princes Gate in Kensington will close at the end of the month due to the Taliban government sacking all the staff
The closure follows an announcement by the Taliban in July that it would no longer recognise embassies set up by the previous regime. Pictured: Taliban ride motorbikes to celebrate the third anniversary of Taliban takeover of Afghanistan on August 14
Pictured: General Deputy Head of the Military Affairs Commission Mullah Yaqoob (R) attends a military parade to celebrate the third anniversary of the Taliban government takeover
Afghan ambassador to the UK Zalmai Rassoul said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that the embassy will close on September 27 ‘at the official request of the host country’
Many Afghan embassies in Europe have continued to operate since the fall of Kabul in August 2021, while others, including the embassy in Washington DC, have been forced to close due to lack of support from the Taliban regime.
The UK does not recognise the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan and has moved its own embassy from Kabul to Qatar.
But the Government has previously said there is ‘no alternative to engaging pragmatically with the current administration’, and the UK continues to work with other nations to provide humanitarian support to the Afghan people.
Since the hardline Islamist group seized power following the withdrawal of US and coalition forces in 2021 they have set up a ministry for the ‘prevention of vice’.
Last month officials published its 114-page vice and virtue rulebook that covers aspects of everyday life such as public transport, music, shaving and celebrations.
The 2021 fall of Kabul was the capture of Afghanistan’s capital city of Kabul by the Taliban on 15 August 2021. Pictured: US Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III safely transported approximately 640 Afghan citizens from Hamid Karzai International Airport August 15, 2021
Taliban fighters marked the third anniversary of seizing Kabul on August 14, 2024
Since the hardline Islamist group seized power they have set up a ministry for the ‘prevention of vice’. Pictured: Burqa-clad Afghan women walk on a road in Kandahar, Afghanistan
Pictured: Two Burqa-clad Afghan women walk on a road in Kandahar, Afghanistan
The laws, which have been approved by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, say that it is compulsory for all women to cover their bodies in public and that face coverings are essential to ‘avoid temptation and tempting others’.
Clothing should not be thin, tight or short, and failure to adhere could result in arrest.
Meanwhile, a woman’s voice is deemed intimate and so should not be heard singing, reciting poetry, or reading aloud in public.
It is forbidden for women to look at men they are not related to by blood or marriage and vice versa.
The law also bans music, women travelling alone, and men and women socialising together unless they are related to each other. Last month, a report by the United Nations said the ministry was contributing to a climate of fear among Afghans.
Fiona Frazer, head of the human rights service at the UN mission in Afghanistan, said at the time: ‘The position expressed by the de facto authorities that this oversight will be increasing and expanding gives cause for significant concern for all Afghans, especially women and girls.’
The laws, which have been approved by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada (pictured), say that it is compulsory for all women to cover their bodies in public and that face coverings are essential to ‘avoid temptation and tempting others’
Thousands of Afghans descended on Kabul’s airport as US troops left in 2021
Meanwhile House Republicans published their investigation into the 2021 withdrawal yesterday, blaming the disastrous end to the 20-year war on President Joe Biden and his vice president.
It accused them of focusing on politics and optics, rather than preparing proper evacuation plans.
The report, authored by Rep. Michael McCaul of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, cites Harris’s own claim to having been ‘the last person in the room’ when Biden made the decision to bring home the last American troops
And it says Harris worked ‘in lockstep with President Biden behind the scenes to withdraw all US troops.’
However, Democrats say it understates President Donald Trump’s role in the decision and his administration’s deal with the Taliban to reduce the number of U.S. troops to zero in May 2021.
The national security figures, led by (Ret) Admiral Steve Abbot, who served as deputy homeland security advisor to George W. Bush, warn that Trump is a danger to democracy.
‘He repeatedly fails to take responsibility for his own role in putting service members in harm’s way,’ they said.
House Republicans published their investigation into the 2021 withdrawal yesterday, blaming the disastrous end to the 20-year war on President Joe Biden and his vice president
Some national security figures said Donald Trump was to blame for the chaos
‘Without involving the Afghan government, he and his administration negotiated a deal with the Taliban that freed 5,000 Taliban fighters and allowed them to return to the battlefield.
‘Then, he left President Biden and Vice President Harris with no plans to execute a withdrawal, and with little time to do so. This chaotic approach severely hindered the Biden-Harris Administration’s ability to execute the most orderly withdrawal possible and put our service members and our allies at risk.’
Biden’s announcement in April 2021 that he was ending the war sent Taliban fighters on a whirlwind advance.
They met little resistance. Government forces, without foreign contractors to keep aircraft flying or American allies to provide support, melted away rather than wage a futile last ditch effort.
The Taliban took control of Kabul on August 15.
The result was chaos as tens of thousands of foreign nationals and Afghans converged on the city’s airport trying to find passage to safety.
The world watched in horror as desperate young men tried to cling to planes as they took off, some falling to their deaths.
Disaster struck days later when an ISIS-K suicide bomber killed about 170 Afghans and 13 American service personnel.
Republicans and Democrats have traded accusations that they were to blame ever since.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk