A crucial annual report by an expert team monitoring UN sanctions against the Taliban, released in early July, brings further grim news about the Taliban and threats to the peace and stability of Afghanistan and its region. The report makes it plain that Afghanistan is Central Asia’s terrorism Air B&B: that is, in UN-speak, “over two dozen groups still operate in the country, enjoying freedom to maneuver under the de facto authorities with oversight from the [Taliban] General Directorate of Intelligence.” The number of Al Qaeda training camps is growing and Al Qaeda operatives are well embedded into Taliban security force training; Taliban is unable to control ISIS-K, which remains active; and the Taliban regime is either unwilling or unable to control the anti-Pakistan TTP and other regional insurgent groups. Some foreign fighters are even given Afghan identities and passports, according to the report, completing the safe haven arrangement.

The report also details ways in which the Taliban remains a group fundamentally bound to terrorism as a technique of regime survival, including work to “train and indoctrinate young students into Taliban ideology” by the creation of “jihadi madrassas”. Reported acts of terror against the Afghan population include “continued targeting” of former intelligence, military, and judicial officials of the previous government for detention, disappearance, and extra-judicial killing, as well as consolidation of suicide bombing capability under the control of the Supreme Leader, Hibatullah Akhunzada. This is over and above the continued gender persecution, and gender apartheid, which has led to even more widespread domestic violence and suicides among women. In considerable detail, the report shows that while the Taliban take in resources through taxes, fees, customs duties, and mining contracts, they spend most of it on security rather than attending to the needs of the population.

Concern over the erosion of a UN sanctions regime isn’t limited to those who track Afghanistan; sanctions are a vital tool of foreign policy which the U.S. relies upon, most importantly regarding Russia and Iran. For sanctions to work anywhere, they have to be respected everywhere – and this is not what the report shows. The Taliban have put 61 listed individuals into senior positions (out of the total 135 listed individuals), several more than the year before, aggressively flaunting the international intent behind listing them. Furthermore, over a one-year period there were 17 instances of listed individuals traveling – such as FBI-wanted Sirajuddin Haqqani’s trip to Saudi Arabia and the UAE – and the requests for exemption come while the trip is already underway, or over.

What is at stake is nothing less than our own security, within the time horizon of half a generation. Afghans currently are being either indoctrinated or locked out of society. Afghanistan’s youth are undergoing a shift towards an even more conservative outlook. Anger at abandonment by the West will help finish the job.

The time is right to strengthen this sanctions regime, which against all odds in a polarized world continues to receive Security Council approval. With consistent and negative Monitoring Team reports in 2022, 2023 and 2024, it’s urgent to add more names to the list – the being that of Hibatullah Akhunzada, the Supreme Leader. Hibatullah, according to the report, acts with unquestioned authority. In fact, “some Member States commented on how striking Hibatullah’s consolidation of power has been” through leadership shuffling, control of local religious leaders and councils, and use of the judiciary and security forces to enforce his decrees. He is therefore responsible for all the Taliban’s hospitality towards insurgent and terrorist groups, as well as the acts of terror against Afghanistan’s population. He also is responsible for the web of decrees which have constrained and punished women to the point where their condition is considered “gender apartheid” by experts. Akhunzada wasn’t part of the original power structure in the 1990’s, the source of most of the listed names, but he should be put on the list now – as soon as possible – along with Taj Mir Jawad and Hajji Najib Rahmatullah from the Directorate of Intelligence and “Weapons Registration Commission”, also noted in the report for their support of terrorism.

The arguments against adding these listings may be based on the idea of working with the Taliban to deliver humanitarian assistance – but that is something the UN would have every right to do whether Akhunzada is listed or not. The concept that listings would “discourage” the Taliban from working with the international community is based on wishful thinking that anything has come from the current “encouragement” – there has been no positive movement that would indicate the Taliban wants to be responsible members of the international community and safeguard international peace and stability. Another argument may come from those who want to make common cause with the Taliban against ISIS-K – a proven fallacy which took the US down the disgraceful road of signing an accord with the Taliban leadership in 2020, and which ignores the danger of adding to the Taliban’s symbolic stature as jihadi exemplars. Finally, there are warning voices about jeopardizing American hostages or Afghans who are trying to get permission to leave.

All these are delicate and important considerations but need to be balanced with the importance of strengthening both the tool of sanctions and international condemnation of Taliban brutality and lawlessness. Sending this signal puts the international community into its rightful position of adhering to the norms of rule of law, human rights and dignity, and the indivisible security of nations.