The United Nations Security Council says it will hold a meeting later this month to vote on extending the mandate of the monitoring team overseeing sanctions related to Afghanistan.
The Security Council announced that the mandate of the Afghanistan sanctions monitoring team is set to expire on February 17.
According to the Council’s statement, the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team is tasked with overseeing the implementation of sanctions related to Afghanistan.
The Afghanistan sanctions regime (1988) includes asset freezes, travel bans, and an arms embargo against individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities associated with the Taliban.
The listing criteria for these sanctions include involvement in activities such as supplying weapons, recruiting fighters, or providing any form of support to individuals or groups linked to the Taliban that pose a threat to peace, security, and stability in Afghanistan.
The statement reads: “The extension of the mandate of the Monitoring Team is one of the key issues before the Security Council in February. The Council may decide to renew the mandate for another year without making any substantive changes, as has been customary in recent years.”
It is worth noting that Taliban officials are included on the United Nations sanctions list; however, despite this, members of the group continue to travel freely to other countries.
