Taliban send envoy to take charge of embassy in Pakistan

Islamabad, Oct 30: Pakistan has quietly allowed the Taliban-appointed "diplomats" to take charge of the Afghan embassy and consulates in the country, a media report said on Saturday. Although Pakistan does not recognise the Taliban as the legitimate government in Kabul, it still issued visas to the appointed "diplomats".

Sardar Muhammad Shokaib has started working as the first secretary in the Afghan embassy in Islamabad, while Hafiz Mohibullah, Mullah Ghulam Rasool and Mullah Muhammad Abbas have been assigned to the Peshawar, Quetta and Karachi consulates of Afghanistan, the Dawn newspaper reported. Shokaib would effectively be the Afghan charge d'affaires in Islamabad.

The Afghan embassy here has been without an ambassador since July when the last envoy under the previous regime, Najibullah Alikhil, left because of controversy due to alleged abduction of his daughter Silsila Alikhil. No details about Shokaib were shared but according to a report by Voice of America, he is an ethnic Pashtun from Zabul province who served in the Information and Cultural Department in southern Kandahar and was associated with a Taliban magazine.