Antonio Guterres: Some sanctions against the Taliban must be lifted

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that some sanctions against the Taliban must be lift to help Afghanistan.

“I have requested that some exemptions be issued to make operational aspects possible,” the UN Secretary-General said at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting. “For operational reasons, some exemptions will need to be applied to a number of sanctions to create the conditions needed for the effective distribution of humanitarian aid.”

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said at the meeting that sanctions against the Taliban would be maintained but that their effects on the Afghan people would be limited.

Regarding US humanitarian aid to the Afghan people, he said: “This aid is for the Afghan people and the Taliban must provide the means for sending and distributing this aid.”