A group of Afghan diplomats posted across the world in the Embassies of Afghanistan asked the world not to recognise the Taliban government.

They also lambasted the allies of Afghanistan for abandoning the people of Afghanistan and leaving them at the mercy of the brutal Taliban militants.

“We are disheartened that after twenty years of engagement, our allies are abandoning Afghanistan and leaving our people at the mercy of a terrorist group. We strongly believe that Taliban’s military takeover of Afghanistan is going to prolong Afghans’ suffering and will further undermine international security,” said the statement sent to Reuters, signed by two dozen diplomats working in Afghan missions in the United States, Britain, France, Turkey and elsewhere.

In a first-of-its-kind joint statement, the diplomats asked world leaders to use all available means to halt Taliban violence against women, civil society activists and journalists.

“The Taliban have arbitrarily arrested and tortured journalists in Kabul and in the provinces over the last weeks. The group has also violently suppressed peaceful demonstrations by women and civil society activists. An Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Afghanistan should be established to ensure justice and accountability,” said the statement.

The diplomats remind the world leaders that The Taliban is a terrorist group. Most of the Taliban leaders and members of their interim government are on the UN sanction list as terrorists. As promised by the insurgent group, their government is not an inclusive one.

“The world should put pressure on them to form a politically negotiated, all-inclusive and legitimate government in Afghanistan that is acceptable to all people of Afghanistan, including women and minorities. The international community must prevent a government in Afghanistan that uses violence to subjugate the population to its rules”.

The statement talked about the ongoing onslaught in Panjshir by the Taliban and its  aggression against people in the Panjshir Province and the forceful displacement of people across the country must stop immediately.

There is confusion in all 71 Afghanistan embassies and they have all run out of cash. They have no contacts with Kabul at all as there is “no government” there and officials do not know whom to speak to as most of the staff of the Afghan Foreign Ministry has left. These officials have not communicated back home on how to represent the new government and there is no clear strategy on what to do next. They have not got any salary since the war broke out in their country. Few of the embassies have been dealing with the influx of Afghan refugees on their own initiatives.

All Afghan embassies have no money to pay rents,  diplomats’ salaries and other day to day expenses, forcing them to  trim costs on everything from television subscriptions to payroll.

There is a widespread fear among them. One Afghan diplomat told Reuters that he fears for wife and daughters in Kabul would be harmed. He wants them to leave the country and start their life from scratch. Another diplomat said that he and many of colleagues in different missions have applied for asylum in their host countries. Many Afghan embassies like Tajikistan,  Italy, Sri Lanka, Britain, India are opposing the regime of Islamic Emirate Afghanistan foisted by the Taliban.

“The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in New Delhi will continue to provide services to the citizens of Afghanistan in India,” said Abdulhaq Azad, a spokesperson of the Afghan embassy in Delhi.  Ashraf Haidari, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Sri Lanka has been always critical of the Taliban.

“The beginning of the end of imposed totalitarianism: foreign madrassa militants deployed to target Afghans-Afghan women-at point-blank range is unforgivable by any standards of humanity. The UN knows, Biden knows which UN  member-state plays with Afghan lives,” Haidari posted on Twitter.

Also Read: Afghan embassies including one in India turn their back on Taliban

Since the Taliban takeover last month, Afghanistan has been cut off from the international financial system and most foreign aid has stopped flowing, crippling the Taliban’s ability to pay government staff.

The new Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Mottaqi said on Wednesday that he had sent messages to all Afghan embassies to continue to work and get investments in their motherland but diplomats are in a fix on how to tell him that no one will come to Afghanistan unless his regime gets legitimacy.