US special envoy for Taliban-ruled Afghanistan moved to different role

ISLAMABAD — 

The United States has reassigned its peculiar typical for Afghanistan, leaving vacant a cardinal presumption successful its efforts to prosecute with the Taliban-ruled country.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the determination Tuesday to reassign Tom West, portion emphasizing that Washington's committedness to the South Asian federation "remains an enduring priority."

Blinken said West would service successful a caller relation arsenic the acting caput of the Office of Sanctions Coordination astatine the U.S. State Department and commended him for moving "tirelessly to guarantee [that] some our nationalist interests and the payment of the Afghan radical guided our argumentation successful Afghanistan."

West was appointed arsenic the peculiar typical to Afghanistan successful October 2021, 2 months aft the Taliban regained powerfulness and each U.S.-led NATO troops withdrew from the country, ending 20 years of engagement successful the war.

"Tom has skillfully led diplomacy connected Afghanistan during a analyzable period," Blinken said. "Today's planetary challenges are arsenic arsenic complex, and I look guardant to moving with him connected coordinating economical sanctions strategies crossed the U.S. authorities with our partners and stakeholders to execute U.S. overseas argumentation priorities," helium said without elaborating.

The Taliban takeover compelled Washington and different Western capitals to relocate their diplomatic missions from Kabul to Doha, Qatar, wherever Karen Decker serves arsenic the main of the U.S. Embassy. Blinken said Decker has been asked to pb Afghan diplomacy.

The de facto Afghan leaders person imposed their strict mentation of Islamic law, known arsenic Shariah, banning girls' acquisition beyond the sixth grade, prohibiting women from astir workplaces and entree to nationalist beingness astatine ample crossed the impoverished country.

Taliban leaders cull planetary disapproval and calls for reversing bans connected Afghan women's rights to enactment and acquisition arsenic interference successful the country's interior matters.

Blinken said that Rina Amiri, the U.S. peculiar envoy for Afghan women's and girls' rights, would proceed to pb her ngo to guarantee that "human rights, and peculiarly women's rights, are prioritized."

Asif Durrani, who served arsenic Pakistan's peculiar typical to Afghanistan until past month, said that galore countries, including the U.S., are frustrated with the Taliban owed to their attraction of women and their deficiency of an inclusive authorities successful Kabul.

"Issues specified arsenic inclusivity oregon quality rights, peculiarly girls' close to acquisition and women's close to work, are issues that the American medication cannot spend to place and prosecute the Taliban successful a meaningful way," Durrani said.

But helium suggested the wars successful Ukraine and Gaza person diverted Washington's attraction from the Afghan situation.

"It's rather evident that Afghanistan is not connected the United States' precedence list, astatine slightest for the clip being," Durrani said.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller rejected that presumption erstwhile asked by reporters Tuesday whether Afghanistan is inactive a U.S. overseas argumentation priority.

"Of people it is," helium said. "And we volition proceed to enactment engaged successful Afghanistan. It remains an enduring priority."

Durrani said the U.S. cannot beryllium blamed unsocial for the deficiency of betterment successful Afghanistan. "The Taliban's rigid cognition towards women's acquisition and their prohibition connected women's enactment is not winning them immoderate friends oregon sympathy."

No state has officially recognized the men-only Taliban authorities successful Kabul, chiefly owed to quality rights issues and their sweeping restrictions connected women's freedoms.

The United States and allied nations person imposed fiscal and banking assemblage sanctions connected Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover. Donors person chopped economical improvement assistance, citing terrorism-related sanctions connected respective cardinal leaders of the de facto government.

State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching contributed to this report.