The United States has reassigned its special representative for Afghanistan, leaving vacant a key position in its efforts to engage with the Taliban-ruled country.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the decision Tuesday to reassign Tom West, while emphasizing that Washington's commitment to the South Asian nation "remains an enduring priority."
Blinken said West would serve in a new role as the acting head of the Office of Sanctions Coordination at the U.S. State Department and commended him for working "tirelessly to ensure [that] both our national interests and the welfare of the Afghan people guided our policy in Afghanistan."
West was appointed as the special representative to Afghanistan in October 2021, two months after the Taliban regained power and all U.S.-led NATO troops withdrew from the country, ending 20 years of involvement in the war.
"Tom has skillfully led diplomacy on Afghanistan during a complex period," Blinken said. "Today's global challenges are equally as complex, and I look forward to working with him on coordinating economic sanctions strategies across the U.S. government with our partners and stakeholders to achieve U.S. foreign policy priorities," he said without elaborating.
The Taliban takeover compelled Washington and other Western capitals to relocate their diplomatic missions from Kabul to Doha, Qatar, where Karen Decker serves as the chief of the U.S. Embassy. Blinken said Decker has been asked to lead Afghan diplomacy.
The de facto Afghan leaders have imposed their strict interpretation of Islamic law, known as Shariah, banning girls' education beyond the sixth grade, prohibiting women from most workplaces and access to public life at large across the impoverished country.
Taliban leaders reject international criticism and calls for reversing bans on Afghan women's rights to work and education as interference in the country's internal matters.
Blinken said that Rina Amiri, the U.S. special envoy for Afghan women's and girls' rights, would continue to lead her mission to ensure that "human rights, and particularly women's rights, are prioritized."
Asif Durrani, who served as Pakistan's special representative to Afghanistan until last month, said that many countries, including the U.S., are frustrated with the Taliban due to their treatment of women and their lack of an inclusive government in Kabul.
"Issues such as inclusivity or human rights, particularly girls' right to education and women's right to work, are issues that the American administration cannot afford to overlook and engage the Taliban in a meaningful way," Durrani said.
But he suggested the wars in Ukraine and Gaza have diverted Washington's attention from the Afghan situation.
"It's quite obvious that Afghanistan is not on the United States' priority list, at least for the time being," Durrani said.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller rejected that view when asked by reporters Tuesday whether Afghanistan is still a U.S. foreign policy priority.
"Of course it is," he said. "And we will continue to stay engaged in Afghanistan. It remains an enduring priority."
Durrani said the U.S. cannot be blamed alone for the lack of improvement in Afghanistan. "The Taliban's rigid attitude towards women's education and their ban on women's work is not winning them any friends or sympathy."
No country has officially recognized the men-only Taliban government in Kabul, mainly due to human rights issues and their sweeping restrictions on women's freedoms.
The United States and allied nations have imposed financial and banking sector sanctions on Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover. Donors have cut economic development assistance, citing terrorism-related sanctions on several key leaders of the de facto government.
State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching contributed to this report.
