Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told the U.N. General Assembly that militant groups including Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, the Balochistan Liberation Army and the Majeed Brigade are operating from Afghanistan and carrying out deadly attacks inside Pakistan.
Sharif said the groups were responsible for some of the “most heinous attacks” in Pakistan, including the Jaffar Express train bombing earlier this year. He urged the Taliban to take effective measures against militants and ensure Afghan soil is not used against any country. He also pressed Afghanistan’s interim authorities to respect human rights, including women’s rights.
Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheál Martin in his remarks called the Taliban “brutal” and condemned their restrictions on women and girls. “I am deeply concerned about the persistent backsliding in human rights,” he said, citing rollbacks in gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights.
Other leaders joined the criticism. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Taliban had taken Afghanistan “back into the dark ages,” while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the Taliban to uphold human values.
Afghanistan has not had a representative at the U.N. General Assembly since the Taliban takeover in 2021. Despite international pressure, the Taliban have maintained their restrictions, particularly on women and girls.
