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Taliban sends envoy to take charge of embassy in Pakistan

The Taliban setup in Kabul has sent its envoy to Islamabad to run the Afghan embassy and also appointed three consul generals for Peshawar, Quetta and Karachi, Taliban leaders said on Friday.

 Sardar Ahmad Khan Shokaib was appointed as first secretary in Islamabad, while Taliban officials are also now in place at consulates in Peshawar, Karachi and Quetta.

The new Taliban rulers have yet to be formally recognised by any foreign government, including Pakistan, meaning Shokaib cannot assume the title of ambassador.

“Though Pakistan hasn’t officially recognised our government, we decided to send our diplomats to Islamabad to facilitate people seeking Afghanistan’s visas. The diplomats were issued visas in the Pakistani embassy in Kabul,” a senior Taliban leader told The News from Kabul.

“These diplomats will take care of the affairs in the embassy and in the three consulates,” a Taliban source told .

“They will formally take charge on Monday,” a source close to the Peshawar consulate added.

Pleading anonymity, he said Mohammad Shokaib had been appointed as first secretary or charge d’affaires at the Afghan embassy in Islamabad. According to Taliban sources in the ministry of foreign affairs in Kabul, their foreign minister Maulvi Ameer Khan Muttaqi had approved the appointment of the three diplomats in Pakistan and signed their credentials.

The last ambassador of the Afghan embassy was withdrawn by the former US-backed government several months ago following the alleged kidnapping of his daughter in leafy Islamabad.

A spokesman for Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the move would allow the embassy to perform consular functions, with the country hosting millions of Afghan refugees.

“I understand they have made similar appointments in their embassies in some other countries,” the spokesman added.

Pakistan has long faced US accusations of playing a double game in Afghanistan and has historically had close ties to the Taliban leadership.

Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government has called on the world to engage with the Taliban and provide economic support to the aid-dependent country which has seen funding frozen by Western donors since the takeover.

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