WASHINGTON (AFP) – The Afghan embassy in Washington, under severe financial pressure and cut off from the new Taliban government in Kabul, will close down in the coming week, a senior State Department official confirmed Saturday.
Its diplomats, holdovers from the old government, now have a month to apply for U.S. visas before being deported -- though not back to Afghanistan, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Around 100 diplomats currently work at the embassy in Washington or at Afghan consulates in Los Angeles and in New York, according to The New York Times.
Roughly one-fourth have yet to apply to remain in the U.S., the American official said.
“The Afghan Embassy and consulates are under severe financial pressure. Their bank accounts are not available to them,” the official told AFP.
He added, “We have no intention of accrediting diplomats who are appointed by the Taliban at this time.” The group will retain its current diplomatic status for 30 days.
The Taliban, who had previously ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, took power again on August 15 as the U.S. was in the middle of a chaotic troop withdrawal. The group announced the formation of a caretaker government on September 7. No country has yet recognized their rule.
The Taliban have not fully gained control of diplomatic missions set up under the former government and many of the diplomats remain loyal to the old pro-Western government.