Afghan Embassy In Rome Continues To Fly Republic's Flag

Afghan Embassy in Rome Continues to Fly Republic's Flag

The Afghan Embassy in Rome is still flying the Islamic Republic's black-red-green flag and does not recognize the interim government announced by the Taliban (a terrorist group banned in Russia), a representative of the diplomatic mission told Sputnik

ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th September, 2021) The Afghan Embassy in Rome is still flying the Islamic Republic's black-red-green flag and does not recognize the interim government announced by the Taliban (a terrorist group banned in Russia), a representative of the diplomatic mission told Sputnik.

Currently, the flag of the Taliban - a white rectangular cloth with an Arabic inscription "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet" - is used as the state banner in Afghanistan. The flag had already served as the official one during the first Taliban rule in 1996-2001.

"Why should we take it [the republic's flag] down? There is no new government in Kabul. The government, which the Taliban has announced, is not recognized. We still have our constitution, we have our vice-president Amrullah Saleh, who is still in Afghanistan," the Afghan diplomat said.

According to the official, the Afghan Embassy in Rome continues to operate. In August, with the Taliban coming to power in Kabul, the diplomatic mission shut down for a week. On Monday it announced on Facebook that the consular department would be opened. However, the telephones of the diplomatic mission are still unavailable.

The Taliban intensified its offensive against Afghan government forces a month ago and entered Kabul on August 15. On August 31, the US military left the Kabul airport, bringing an end to the nearly twenty-year US military presence in Afghanistan. On September 7, the Taliban announced the composition of the interim government of Afghanistan. It will be headed by Mohammad Hasan Akhund, who served as a foreign minister during the first Taliban rule. Akhund has been under UN sanctions since 2001.

Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio called the creation of the interim government the worst signal for the international community. He also said on Saturday that the recognition of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan was "very unlikely."