Monitoring Desk
KABUL: The UN has apologized after employees took photos under Taliban flags while visiting Afghanistan.
“We are aware of this photograph which was taken while the UN Deputy Secretary-General was meeting the Afghan leaders in Afghanistan,” Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said. “Her security took her to that meeting and were waiting for next door.”
“The photo should never have been taken,” the spokesperson stressed. “We accept it was a mistake, and we apologize for the mistake.”
The pictures first surfaced on social media sites Thursday night, showing UN personnel in Kabul taking a picture under Taliban flags.
UN apologizes
Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammad, the UN’s most senior female official, had visited Afghanistan to address concerns over women’s rights in Afghanistan – particularly limits on women in the workplace and access to higher education.
The delegation comprises the most senior UN officials to visit Afghanistan since the Taliban took power in 2021.
Amina Mohammad looked to speak with senior Taliban leadership to convince them to reverse decisions on the restrictions, which have imperiled humanitarian operations as women are barred from participation, according to the BBC.
Ali Maisam Nazary, chief of foreign relations for the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, posted the photos and condemned them as “insensitive.”
“The UN personnel in Kabul taking a photo with a terrorist group’s flag brings the UN’s impartiality and integrity into question,” Ali Maisam Nazary wrote. “We kindly ask UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to investigate this matter and for UNAMA News to avoid such insensitive actions that can damage its reputation.”
“This comes as the Taliban fighters are allowing Afghanistan to become a center for international terrorism, and they are increasing their oppression of citizens, especially women,” Nazary said. “Such acts cause us to question the UN’s integrity and impartiality in Afghanistan, and we kindly request Antonio Guterres to investigate this matter and avoid any biased move on the part of UN personnel visiting Afghanistan in the future.”
The Taliban’s chosen representative to the UN and former spokesman for the Taliban, Suhail Shaheen, told Fox News Digital that the words written on the Taliban flag belong to “Muslims across the world.”
“The words written on the Taliban flag are words that Muslims across the world believe in, i.e., there is no God but Allah, and Mohammad (PBUH) is the prophet of Allah,” Suhail Shaheen said. “It belongs to all Muslims, not one government or nation.”
“Anyone who says something against it or doesn’t believe this is not called Muslim commits blasphemy,” Shaheen added.
