Following similar appointments in Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, China, Russia, and Qatar, the diplomatic mission of Afghanistan in Uzbekistan will now be led by a Taliban-appointed diplomat.
Moghfurollah Shahob, the son of the Minister of Mines and Petroleum, was appointed as the head of Afghanistan’s Embassy in Uzbekistan by the Taliban movement on February 2.
Afghan news outlets reporting on the appointment have highlighted a prior ban imposed by the Taliban leadership on hiring relatives for official positions.
According to a source from Kun.uz, the previous ambassador appointed by Afghanistan's former government, Ahmad Khalid Elmi, has completed his mission and returned to his country. Subsequently, Moghfurollah Shahob, a diplomat formerly holding a high position at the Afghan Embassy in Tashkent, has become its temporary head. It is clarified by the source that his official status is not that of an ambassador.
Previously, countries such as Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, China, Russia, and Qatar had accepted diplomats appointed by the Taliban. Of Afghanistan's neighbors, only Tajikistan has not handed over control of the Afghan embassy to the Taliban.
To date, the Taliban have only sent an ambassador to one country - the People's Republic of China. Last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping received the credentials of the Taliban's ambassador.
It is worth noting that just yesterday, Uzbekistan's State Security Service Head Abdusalom Azizov met with Afghanistan's acting defense minister Muhammad Yaqoob.
