Turkiye, UAE to reduce missions in Afghanistan over ‘security concerns’

The embassies of Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Afghanistan intend to trim down their missions due to security concerns, after international employees reported receiving threatening letters from unknown parties, Sputnik reported.

On Sunday, the agency quoted unnamed sources in the ruling Taliban movement as saying that “the Turkish embassy has a plan to reduce its diplomatic activities in Kabul due to some security concerns.”

“The UAE wants to move its diplomatic mission to a small office before closing its embassy,” the sources added. However neither the UAE nor Turkiye have confirmed the news.

Sputnik quoted staff of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) as saying that since Friday they have been receiving threatening messages and they were “officially” asked to protect themselves against any possible attack.

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UNAMA offices and other international organisations in Afghanistan have warned their staff that “diplomatic missions in Kabul are on high alert after Taliban intelligence had informed them that a car loaded with explosives had successfully infiltrated the Green Zone in Kabul which prompted the Saudis to evacuate their headquarters,” the news report added.

However, Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told local media that the Saudi embassy in Kabul was closed because staff had left to receive training in Saudi Arabia for a week.

He added that “any other rumours in this regard are not true.”