Afghanistan's London embassy to close after its diplomats were disowned by the Taliban

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LONDON (AP) — Afghanistan’s embassy in London is being shut down after it was disowned by the country’s Taliban rulers, the U.K. government said Monday.

The Foreign Office said “the embassy is being closed following the dismissal of its staff by the Taliban.” Britain does not recognize the Taliban government.

Ambassador Zalmai Rassoul wrote on the social network X that the embassy would shut its doors on Sept. 27 “at the official request of the host country.”

Neither the U.K. government nor the ambassador said what would happen to the embassy’s staff.

Diplomats who served under Afghanistan’s former Western-backed government were left in limbo when the Taliban seized Kabul and returned to power in August 2021. Many embassies in Europe and beyond have continued to operate, but have been accused by Kabul of failing to cooperate with the government. Afghanistan has sent Taliban-approved diplomats to some countries, including Pakistan and China.

The U.K. decision comes after the Taliban administration announced in July that it no longer recognized diplomatic missions set up by the former government and that documents issued by embassies in Britain and 13 other mostly European countries were invalid.

Many Taliban leaders are under sanctions, and no country officially recognizes them as Afghanistan’s legitimate rulers, though some nations retain active diplomatic missions in Afghanistan, including Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar, and China.

The U.K. and other Western countries are grappling with how to provide humanitarian aid to Afghanistan without recognizing the Taliban government, which has dramatically curtailed education, employment and personal freedom for women and girls.

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