S/PV.10104 Security Council

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Members of the Council have before them document S/2026/70, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by the United States of America. The Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now.

The draft resolution received 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 2816 (2026). I shall now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements after the voting.

This resolution (resolution 2816 (2026)) underscores the Security Council's commitment to the sanctions regime under resolution 1988 (2011) and the vital role of the Monitoring Team in promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan. The Monitoring Team's reports provide critical analysis of how sanctions affect designated individuals and entities, while also enhancing our comprehension of the situation in Afghanistan. We find the Monitoring Team's assessments valuable, especially regarding the Taliban's counter-terrorism efforts and human rights record, particularly affecting women and girls, as these factors directly influence security and stability throughout Afghanistan and the broader region. We highlight that the Council also strongly condemned hostage-taking, which the Taliban continue to use as an insurgent tactic of hostage diplomacy. The Taliban used detainees as leverage in negotiations against the United States and other countries. For example, in exchange for the Americans currently detained, the Taliban have openly sought the release of an Al-Qaida operative detained in Guantanamo Bay, while paradoxically promising to uphold their counter-terrorism commitments. The Taliban must end all forms of hostage-taking and wrongful detentions. The United Nations 1988 sanctions regime and its Monitoring Team remain critical tools for the international community to hold the Taliban accountable, including for these deplorable tactics.

China welcomes the Council's unanimous adoption of resolution 2816 (2016), renewing the mandate of the Monitoring Team supporting the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1988 (2011) for one year. The Security Council should continue to make effective use of the 1988 sanctions regime to play a positive role for lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan. I wish to make the following points. First, we should support the Monitoring Team in delivering on its mandate. The Monitoring Team should continue to uphold an objective and impartial stance, leverage its professional expertise and provide strong support for the work of the 1988 Committee. It should heed the views of Security Council members and the wider United Nations membership and strengthen communication and exchanges with important regional organizations, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. We welcome the Monitoring Team's recent visit to Afghanistan and encourage its experts to maintain engagement and dialogue with the Afghan Government. Secondly, we should resolutely eliminate terrorist forces in Afghanistan. Counter- terrorism is the central objective of the 1988 sanctions regime. The resolution just adopted expresses serious concern regarding terrorist activities in Afghanistan and reaffirms that Afghan territory should not be used to support terrorism or threaten the security of other countries. We urge the Afghan Government to earnestly fulfil its counter-terrorism responsibilities and take more resolute and effective measures to completely eradicate all terrorist forces in the country, including Da’esh, Al-Qaida, the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement and Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, with a view to safeguarding regional stability and security. Thirdly, we should support the development and reconstruction of Afghanistan. The resolution reaffirms the need to help Afghanistan to address economic and humanitarian challenges, restore its banking and financial systems, and use the assets belonging to the Central Bank of Afghanistan for the benefit of the Afghan people. China calls on the international community, in particular traditional donors, to increase humanitarian and development assistance to the country. We urge the countries concerned to unconditionally unfreeze and return in full Afghanistan's overseas assets and cease imposing illegal unilateral sanctions on the country. The resolution expresses deep concern over the ongoing ban on Afghan women from accessing United Nations premises since September 2025. We call on the Afghan Government to heed the legitimate concerns of the international community and effectively safeguard the fundamental rights and interests of all people, including women. Fourthly, we should adjust the sanctions regime in a timely manner. The Taliban has been in power for more than four years, yet many provisions of the 1988 sanctions regime have yet to reflect the profound changes in the situation in Afghanistan. The resolution just adopted reaffirms the need to actively review sanctions measures and consider necessary adjustments to support peace and stability in the country. We urge the Security Council to attach importance to the relevant issues and conduct a systematic and forward-looking review and adjustment of the 1988 sanctions regime to better align it with the evolving situation. As a first step, the standing exemption to the travel ban on relevant personnel of the Afghan Government should be reinstated as soon as possible to facilitate its international engagement and exchanges.

The Russian Federation voted in favour of resolution 2816 (2026), which extends the mandate of the Monitoring Team of the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1988 (2011) for a period of 12 months. We support its operations and note the assistance provided to experts in the work of the 1988 sanctions Committee concerning the Taliban movement. We have been constructive in the process of reaching agreement on the resolution, while focusing on the importance of a prompt technical renewal of the mandate. We are pleased that the policy of keeping the task of the Monitoring Team unchanged was supported by the United States penholders of this file. The Russian Federation consistently supports the comprehensive engagement between the international community and the authorities of Afghanistan on all key issues. There has never been any alternative to this. In this connection, we agree on the need to maintain communications between the specialized experts of the Monitoring Team and the Taliban, in accordance with the mandate that has been entrusted to them. We support their intention to visit Kabul. Our position remains unchanged vis-à-vis the conduct of the 1988 sanctions review and the corresponding review of the sanctions regime on the basis of the recommendations drafted by the Monitoring Team, following contacts with Member States. We are pleased that the resolution maintains provisions related to the terrorist activities of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and other groups, as well as to the need to shore up efforts to combat this threat. We have always believed that the situation in the region and beyond depends on stability in Afghanistan. At the same time, it should be pointed out that the text of the resolution is overloaded with content that is not directly linked to implementation of the 1988 sanctions regime, not to mention the mandate of the Monitoring Team itself. Attempts by certain delegations to shift the focus away from key issues related to combating terrorism and narcotics trafficking to the human rights situation in the country are counterproductive and will undermine the effective implementation by experts of their mandates. We believe that these issues are addressed by the Security Council on an annual basis when the mandate on Afghanistan is extended.

Pakistan voted in favour of this resolution (resolution 2816 (2026)), which extends the mandate of the Monitoring Team for the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1988 (2011) for 12 months. We thank the United States for its constructive efforts to forge consensus and welcome the unanimous adoption of this resolution, which is both timely and necessary. Pakistan remains seriously concerned by the active presence of terrorist groups on Afghan soil, which include Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its Majeed Brigade, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant-Khorasan and Al- Qaida. These groups have been responsible for some of the most heinous terrorist attacks against Pakistan and incidents of hostage-taking. Just this month, Pakistan was struck by dastardly and cowardly terrorist attacks by the BLA and Da’esh that resulted in the cumulative loss of 80 innocent Pakistanis. Once again, Afghan soil was used by these groups to plan and orchestrate these attacks. We reiterate our call for Afghan territory not to be used for terrorism against neighbouring countries and for efforts to be made to prevent external spoilers from exploiting the situation. Through the adoption of this resolution, the Council has sent a clear message to the Taliban authorities that Afghan territory should not be used to threaten or attack any country and that no Afghan group or individual should support terrorists operating on the territory of any country. The Council also outlines its expectations that all Member States shall prevent kidnappers, hostage-takers and terrorist groups from benefiting directly or indirectly from ransom payments or from political concessions and that they shall secure the safe release of hostages. We call upon the Taliban to prevent terrorist groups from carrying out such actions with impunity and to effectively combat terrorism by honouring their counter-terrorism commitments through sustained and verifiable actions in the interests of lasting peace and security. This resolution has also emphasized the various challenges faced by Afghanistan, which include the dire humanitarian situation, the deteriorating human rights situation, particularly for women and girls who are denied fundamental freedoms and are living in harsh conditions under the Taliban rule, besides economic collapse, natural disasters, issues related to political inclusivity and drug trafficking. The Council has spoken with a unanimous voice today by highlighting these problems and remains committed to reviewing these sanctions, as and when appropriate, while taking into account the realities on the ground in Afghanistan. The Monitoring Team provides useful insights on Afghanistan’s landscape to the Council, particularly on terrorism and security-related issues. We hope that the Monitoring Team will make every effort to continue to report actively, as mandated by this resolution, and support the 1988 Taliban Sanctions Committee’s work. It is for the Taliban to decide what path they wish to choose for Afghanistan, whether it is the path to isolation or the path to peace and prosperity as a responsible member of the international community.