Taliban says non-recognition of govt in Afghanistan 'benefiting ISIS-K'

Non-recognition of Taliban’s interim government in Afghanistan by the international community “is benefitting the Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K),” Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told Anadolu Agency on Sunday, October 17. The latter referred to the explosion at the Shia mosque in Afghanistan’s southern city of Kandahar that killed more than 46 to support his remark. The ISIS-K claimed responsibility for the attack on the Bibi Fatima mosque - the largest in the country for Shia worshippers. Muttaqi said that the recognition of the Taliban regime by the Western nations would not only enable the recovery of Afghanistan’s economy but will also be a deterrent to the ISIS-K in the region. 

Taliban, although, in a separate conflicting statement had earlier rejected the claims that there was a heavy presence of the ISIS-K, an affiliate of the terror group Islamic State (IS) in northern Afghanistan. In response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's remark that ISIS-K had hijacked the territories in Afghanistan, Taliban officials at the Cultural Commission of the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture said at a virtual summit that Russia's claims were false. “Concerns expressed in this regard are, to some extent, baseless. Daesh has no support from the people in any part of Afghanistan,” the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture said in a statement, local news outlet TOLO reported. 

International community 'reluctant' to hand formal recognition to Taliban government 

The international community has widely expressed reluctance in recognising the Taliban government. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki earlier last month had said that the US is not rushing to formally hand recognition to the newly announced government formed by the Taliban. Speaking at a White House press briefing, Psaki said that the decision to recognize the Taliban government will be based on the actions of the groups. Her comments came directly after the insurgent group announced that the new Afghan cabinet will be headed by Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund and appointed Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar as the deputy. 

Meanwhile, Afghanistan's envoy to the United Nations also expressed concerns about the new government, saying that the Taliban-led cabinet is “anything but inclusive”, stressing that the group failed to include any women or minority leader in the administration despite a public vow to do so. Similarly, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said at a conference that international recognition of the Taliban was not currently under consideration. His comments came after the Taliban nominated a UN envoy to represent Afghanistan. Turkey similarly clearly announced that while it will assist the Taliban in overcoming the humanitarian crisis, it will not formally recognize Taliban rule in a conflict-ridden nation. 

Another in the series of denial of the Taliban government is the Foreign Ministry of Denmark, which last month, made clear that the country would not officially recognize the newly claimed Taliban government in Afghanistan. Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod asserted that the country’s leaders are concerned about sustaining the efforts made in Afghanistan over the last two decades, but will not recognize any Taliban government. With this announcement, Denmark joins a long list of countries that passed on recognizing the Taliban regime, which is set to be announced anytime soon.