Should travel restrictions be imposed on Taliban leaders or not? The Security Council is divided

 Members of the United Nations Security Council were divided in a recent meeting on granting immunity to some Taliban officials from travel bans, while China and Russia have supported it.

The news agency AFP has said with reference to diplomatic sources that some members of the Security Council have based the Taliban's violation of human rights and failure to fight terrorism.

It should be noted that under the Security Council Resolution 2011, sanctions are imposed on 135 Taliban leaders, which include travel ban and freezing of assets.

13 of these leaders were exempted from travel restrictions to travel abroad to meet foreign officials.

However, the immunity period expired last Friday when Ireland objected to a further one-month extension.

According to diplomatic sources, in the recent meeting of the Security Council, China and Russia have supported the extension of immunity from travel bans, while most Western countries believe that more Taliban leaders should be removed from the list of immunity.

While presiding over the Security Council meeting last week, China said that exemptions from travel bans are necessary, linking them to human rights would be harmful.

The death of al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike in Afghanistan's capital Kabul has also raised questions about the Taliban's promise not to harbor terrorists.

It should be noted that under the Doha agreement between the United States and the Taliban in February 2020, the Taliban will not allow the Afghan territory to be used against the United States and its allies and will not allow it to become a haven for terrorists.

The Security Council's 15-member Sanctions Committee extended the immunity granted to Taliban leaders for another two months in June, but considering the ban on girls' education and violations of women's rights, two officials of the Ministry of Education. International travel was not exempted.

Travel bans were again imposed on Taliban Acting Deputy Minister of Education Syed Ahmad Shahid Khel and Deputy Minister of Higher Education Abdul Baqi Haqqani.

Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is also on the list of thirteen leaders who have been exempted from the travel ban.

In a statement on Twitter, the spokesperson of the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the Security Council not to use sanctions as a tool for pressure and to lift sanctions on all Taliban leaders.