The vote came shortly before the U.S. moved its last troops out of Afghanistan.
Taliban fighters hold Taliban flags in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 30, 2021. Many Afghans are anxious about the Taliban rule and are figuring out ways to get out of Afghanistan. | AP Photo/Khwaja Tawfiq SediqiA divided U.N. Security Council pressed the Taliban on Monday to live up to pledges to let people leave Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrew its forces but China and Russia refused to back the resolution, which they portrayed as diverting blame for chaos surrounding the U.S. pullout.
Still, British Ambassador Barbara Woodward called it “an important step towards a unified international response.”out of Afghanistan, ending America’s longest war, and four days after a suicide bombing at the Kabul airport gate killed at least 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members. The bombing has been blamed on an Islamic State group affiliate.
The council “expects that the Taliban will adhere to” commitments about letting Afghans and foreigners depart safely, the resolution says. “We can see in this an attempt to shift the blame for the failure and collapse of the 20 years of the presence of the United States and their allies in the region upon the Taliban and all the countries in the region that will have to deal with the results of this,” Nebenzia said.
Woodward called the resolution a “first response,” noting that the council does have the leverage to lift sanctions or expand them.