Afghanistan: Taliban foreign ministry says 80 Afghans among deaths in Italy shipwreck

The Taliban administration said this week that dozens of Afghans were among those killed in the shipwreck off the coast of Italy. They also urged not to travel to foreign countries through irregular means of migration.

The Taliban-run Afghan foreign ministry announced on Tuesday that 80 Afghans were included among those who were dead in a shipwreck off the southern coast of Italy on Sunday. Rescuers have so far confirmed that at least 64 people were killed in the incident, while 80 people were rescued, and more people are believed to be missing.

“With great sadness…we learned that 80 Afghan refugees, including women and children, who were travelling from Turkiye to Italy on a wooden boat, drowned and died in the southern sea of Italy,” said the ministry in a statement.

“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan prays forgiveness for the martyrs and patience for the families and relatives of the victims, urging all citizens once again to avoid going to foreign countries through irregular migration,” the ministry added, referring to the Taliban’s name for the Afghan government.

The boat the refugees were on sailed from the port of Izmir in western Turkey. The UN refugee agency said almost half the arrivals between Turkey and Italy by sea last year were Afghans.

Previously, a US judge in February ruled that the families of the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks could not be rewarded with funds from the Afghan central bank or DAB when Washington froze the assets following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. US District Judge George Daniels in Manhattan ruled that awarding the families the frozen assets would require that Washington recognize the Taliban as a legitimate government, which the Biden administration has not done.

Daniels added that the Taliban is responsible for compensating the families of the 9/11 victims, not the Afghan people.

US President Joe Biden froze around $7 billion of DAB assets in February 2022. Biden, at the time, ordered $3.5 billion to be set aside for the Afghan people while the families of 9/11 victims would be able to pursue the remaining half.