Saudi exit from Kabul

It is reported that Saudi Arabia has started calling back its diplomats from Kabul in the wake of mounting security concerns. Separately, it was reported that the Saudi exit from Kabul diplomats had left by air and relocated to Pakistan late last week, but there has been no acknowledgement of this, either from Kabul or Islamabad. Although the US and European countries have yet to reopen their embassies in Kabul, Pakistan was among the handful of countries — including Russia, China, Turkey and Iran — that continued to retain a diplomatic presence there. Such reports point out that the withdrawal of Saudi diplomats may be followed by similar withdrawals of diplomatic staff from and possible closure of the UAE, Qatari and Russian missions in Kabul. There is hardly any doubt that security concerns remain imperative in Afghanistan and this fact is borne out by the attack on Pakistan’s charge d’affaires in Kabul who fortunately survived the assassination attempt but has yet to return to his post. It is reported that Pakistan is still waiting for security assurances from the Afghan government before sending him back. It is also reported that the militant Islamic State-Khurasan (IS-K) group is behind most of these terrorist outrageous attacks. TW

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