Message of Condolence of the Embassy and Mission of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Rome - Italy in Relation to the Suicide Attack at the Entrance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul

With enormous pain we learned that yesterday‘s suicide attack at the entrance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul, took the precious lives of many qualified and experienced employees, who for the last two decades have patriotically served the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (IRoA).

The Embassy and Mission of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Rome vehemently condemns this attack and conveys its deepest condolences to the families of the martyred and pray for a speedy recovery of all those who got injured.

Yesterday’s incident follows the spate of other deadly suicide attacks that have been targeting the people of Afghanistan – especially the country's cadre – over the past two decades, and proves the inability and failure of the illegal administration ruling in Kabul to protect the cadres and professionals of various and important institutions, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Embassy and Mission of the IRoA in Rome calls on the pertinent independent international institutions to conduct an independent investigation in order to put an end to such targeted and selective attacks against the former personnel of the IRoA who still serve Afghanistan. This Embassy and Mission further requests all embassies, governmental and NGO institutions in Italy, Rome Based International Organizations, Afghan Associations in Italy and all our compatriots to provide assistance and donation to the families of the victims in these trying times.

May our Martyred Colleagues Rest In Peace.

Statement of the Embassy and Mission of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Rome on the Recent Statement by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)

Rome, 31 December 2022

The Embassy and Mission of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Rome, Italy welcomes the recent statement by Honorable Hissein Brahim Taha, Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in which he called on the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA) to urgently launch a campaign to unite scholars in the Islamic world against the Taliban’s recent decision to ban female Afghans from pursuing their education.

In the aforementioned statement, which was issued remotely on Thursday, December 29, 2022 at the opening of the second meeting of the 2022 IIFA Bureau, Secretary General Taha called to launch a global campaign to unite religious scholars and authorities in the Islamic world against the Taliban’s recent decision to prevent Afghan girls and women from attaining education as well as the dire need to re-emphasize the true teachings of Islam, which requires the education of girls and women. The statement further stressed that in addition to issues of minorities, escalating hostility to Muslims in Western countries, and other pressing issues, the decision of the Taliban to prevent Afghan females from attaining education and to dismiss female faculty members from their positions on the pretext that it contradicts Islamic law, must be given priority for review in the OIC and upcoming IIFA agendas.

Furthermore, Secretary General Taha recalled that when a team of scholars visited Afghanistan in June of 2022, they explicitly stressed the importance of educational and employment opportunities for Afghan females during their meetings with the Taliban clergy and authority.

The Embassy and Mission of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Rome, once again reiterates that amid growing outrage around the world at the Taliban’s increasing list of draconian orders against women – the latest being a ban on females getting any education above grade six and the ban on women working for indigenous and non-indigenous NGOs – it is critical that with the support of OIC, the Islamic Scholars immediately issue a unanimous religious pronouncement to denounce the Taliban’s recent decisions and actions as being un-Islamic. It is also imperative that the OIC, SCO and the UN international body to confront the Taliban, their affiliates, and State Sponsors to put an end to such actions, which not only endangers the security and prosperity of Afghanistan and beyond, but further increases the misconceptions about the true nature and message of Islam.

Statement of the Embassy and Mission of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Rome Condemning the Suspension of Women Employment by the NGOs in Afghanistan

Rome, 27 December 2022

The Embassy and Mission of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Rome, vehemently condemns the latest directive by the Taliban to forbid Afghan female employees from working in indigenous and non-indigenous NGOs in Afghanistan, and in case of non-compliance, threatening such organizations to revoke their licenses. This directive comes only a few days after the dreadful suspension of the access of Afghan women to higher education, and follows the spate of other draconian policies by the Taliban over the past 16 months in Afghanistan.

Depriving Afghan women from work and other social activities further increases unemployment in the country and potentially deprives millions of people of having access to aid programs at a time where more than half of the population relies on the humanitarian aid.

Given that the Taliban have made breathing almost impossible for the people of Afghanistan, especially for girls, women and minorities, and considering that their presence has once again become a great danger for the security interests of Afghanistan, the region and beyond, it is time for the international community, including the Islamic countries to fulfill their obligations under the UN Charter, UN Conventions and Protocols, Universal Declarations, GA and SC Resolutions and Global Goals by calling upon the UN Security Council to convene an emergency meeting in order to denounce the latest Taliban directives as gender apartheid as well as come up with concrete actions to avoid its definite impact on regional stability and international security. At the same time, it is crucial that the OIC and SCO based on their own interest take decisive steps or otherwise allowing the victimization of Afghans and sheltering regional and transnational terrorist groups in the country, is going to have dire consequences for their own member states in the near future.

At this critical juncture, it is imperative for global community, including the Afghan intelligencia, to exert pressure on the Taliban through the utilization of ‘Smart Power’ to immediately take back their decisions, but also return back to the negotiation table, which ultimately lead to the establishment of an inclusive, representative, participatory and responsive government, where the right of every Afghan citizen will be respected and guaranteed.

The Embassy and Mission of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Rome once again strongly condemns the Taliban’s latest decision and calls upon the international community to take decisive measures in order to put an end to the current fearmongering in Afghanistan.

Statement of the Embassy and Mission of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Rome Condemning the Suspension of Access to Higher Education for Women and Girls by the Taliban in Afghanistan

Rome, 21 December 2022

The Embassy and Mission of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Rome, condemns in the strongest terms, the continued widespread violation of women and girls’ rights by the Taliban in Afghanistan, especially their recent directive to suspend women and girls’ access to higher education in the country.

This radical and unjust decision follows the spate of other measures imposed over the past 16 months by the illegitimate administration of Taliban in Kabul, which prohibit girls from secondary and tertiary education, barre women from returning to their jobs, ban women and girls from going to public parks, prevent them from boarding aircraft without a male guardian, and ordering them to cover their faces while on air.

The recent decision by the Taliban is not only against Islamic values, basic human rights, the historical realities and traditions of Afghanistan, but it is also contradictory to the tenets of modernity and civilization. Once again, this barbaric directive clearly shows that the Taliban has not changed and that the two decades of hard-won gains for equality, human rights, inclusive governance, peace and security made by the Afghans along with their international allies, are at the edge of the precipice more than ever.

At this critical juncture, the international community should understand that waiting longer is neither beneficiary for the oppressed people of Afghanistan, nor for the security interests of the regional and the global countries. Therefore, it is utmost importance that Afghans along with the Islamic countries, strategic partners and allies coalesce their resources to exert pressure on the Taliban and their state sponsors by utilizing diplomatic tools (Soft Power plus Hard Power = Smart Power) to bring them back to the negotiation table, which must further lead to the establishment of an inclusive, representative, participatory, and responsive government, without any discrimination, and with full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of women and ethnic minorities of Afghanistan.

The Embassy and Mission of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Rome once again denounce such measures by the Taliban as blatant violation of basic human rights and call for putting an end to the current endemic of fearmongering in the country.