UNSC Updates Sanctions Records for 5 Senior Taliban Officials
DID Press: United Nations Security Council has updated the identifying information of five senior Taliban officials on its sanctions list, while Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid dismissed the move as a continuation of “failed policies of the past.”
The updated records cover Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s interior minister; Abdul Haq Wasiq, head of the General Directorate of Intelligence; Noor Mohammad Saqib; Hedayatullah Badri; and Hamdullah Nomani.
According to the UN sanctions committee, the revisions include updated personal identifiers, passport details, dates and places of birth, addresses and aliases. Newly issued passports provided by the Taliban authorities between 2024 and 2026 have also been added to the officials’ sanctions records.
The Security Council said the five officials remain subject to a travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo under the existing sanctions regime, with the restrictions remaining in force unless amended by the Council.
The update comes as the United Nations has repeatedly expressed concern over the continued presence of armed groups in Afghanistan, sweeping restrictions on women and girls, and the absence of an inclusive political system, issues it says continue to shape the international community’s approach toward the Taliban.
Responding to the decision, Zabihullah Mujahid described the update as a continuation of “failed policies” that, he said, had produced no meaningful results in the past and would not do so now. He argued that such measures reflect “the policies of the wartime era” and called for replacing sanctions with “constructive engagement and cooperation,” adding that “the rights of no individual should be violated because of sanctions.”
The revisions underscore the Security Council’s continued use of targeted sanctions against senior Taliban leaders while seeking to strengthen enforcement by updating identifying information and travel documents, making it more difficult to circumvent existing restrictions.