Afghanistan: Taliban says foreign-style administration should not be imposed on Afghans

The Taliban is seeking to gain international recognition as Afghanistan’s government since retaking control back in August 2021. As the insurgent group has yet to make good on the reforms asked of them by the community, the Taliban’s acting foreign minister said that a foreign-style administration should not be imposed on the country.

Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting foreign minister of the Taliban-backed Afghanistan, said over the weekend that the foreigners’ way of government in Afghanistan should not be imposed on its people. Speaking at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey, Muttaqi stressed that the Afghan people are capable of choosing their own administration.

Tolo News has reported that the insurgent group is working towards making a more inclusive government for Afghanistan. Muttaqi and the delegation he led were invited by the Turkish foreign ministry to speak at the forum.

“Foreign versions and foreign ideology must not be imposed on Afghans,” said Muttaqi, adding that the previous Western-backed government had already tried but were unsuccessful. Muttaqi also said that the Taliban government has made progress so far in trying to prevent Afghanistan’s economy from further collapse, among other aspects.

Muttaqi also tressed that a weak Afghan government will not benefit anyone, and attempts to destabilize the insurgent group-backed administration should stop. Muttaqi also said that the Taliban has already fulfilled all the requirements by the international community to be recognized by governments in the world.

Meanwhile, the authorities in Kunduz recently arrested two people suspected to be behind the murder of seven polio vaccine administrators Saturday, pinning the blame on a group that has opposed Taliban rule. The health workers were killed in separate attacks in Afghanistan’s northern province while working on a house-to-house campaign to get more people vaccinated against polio.

“The arrested men have confessed to their crime and said they shot the polio vaccinators after receiving orders from their leaders from the Resistance Front in the province,” said Kunduz police spokesman Qari Obaidullah Abedi, who added that the perpetrators were also paid to kill the workers.

Back on February 24, eight polio vaccinators were killed, seven of which were in Kunduz, and one in Takhar.