UN Security Council no longer mentions Taliban in counter-terrorism statement

New Delhi: The United Nations Security Council condemned the “deplorable attack” near Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul early on August 26 and stopped mentioning the Taliban in repetitive paragraphs in its statements on Afghanistan.

India’s permanent representative to the United Nations, TS Tirumurti, issued a statement on behalf of the UN Security Council, calling on Afghan groups not to support terrorists operating on their territory.

The members of the Security Council reaffirmed the importance of combating terrorism in Afghanistan, ensuring that the Afghan territory is not used to threaten or attack any country, and that no Afghan organization or individual supports terrorists operating on the territory of any country,” read the statement issued on August 27.

The UN Security Council statement said: “The members of the Security Council reiterated the importance of combating terrorism in Afghanistan and ensuring that the Afghan territory is not used to threaten or attack any country, and that neither the Taliban nor any other Afghan group or individual supports terrorists operating on the territory of any other country.”

The attack killed more than 170 people and injured at least 200. The Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP), an affiliate of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh), claimed responsibility for the attack.

This was pointed out by Syed Akbaruddin, India’s former permanent representative to the United Nations, on Twitter.

He wrote on Twitter: “In diplomacy… two weeks is a long time… the ‘T’ word has disappeared… compare the marked sections of the @UN Security Council statements issued on August 16th and August 27th…”.

The significant change in the UN Security Council statement comes as the Taliban reportedly assists Afghanistan’s ongoing withdrawal process, allowing people from other countries and Afghans to leave the country.