WASHINGTON — Taliban leaders continue to travel internationally despite targeted sanctions, with many receiving exemptions or facing no restrictions at all, Natalie Gonnella-Platts, a senior official at the George W. Bush Institute, said this week.
Speaking about international responses to Taliban rule, Gonnella-Platts said that more than four dozen Taliban officials on the United Nations sanctions list have been granted travel exemptions over the past two and a half years.
“A lot of people don’t realize that even though there are targeted sanctions in place, Taliban officials travel quite extensively—including those who are subjected to international sanctions,” she said.
She noted that many senior Taliban leaders are not sanctioned at all, and that U.N. member states often cover the cost of their travel.
“Most Afghans are struggling with food insecurity, yet the world has not held the Taliban accountable,” she said, calling for stricter enforcement and expansion of existing sanctions.
Gonnella-Platts urged the full implementation of targeted sanctions and an end to the exemptions that allow Taliban officials to move freely.
“The international posture really has not changed over the last three years to double down on the Taliban’s abuses and atrocities,” she said.
