Now Is Not The Time To Recognise the Taliban, Says Former Afghan President

Afghanistan International

21 August 2026

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai says Taliban recognition and legitimacy depend on meeting specific conditions, including allowing girls to return to school and women to work.

Speaking to Bloomberg on Friday, 21 August, Karzai said the international community and the United Nations had repeatedly called on the Taliban to lift restrictions imposed on women and girls.

He stressed that the Taliban must allow girls to return to school and women to resume work if it wants to gain legitimacy and international recognition.

Karzai said this was not merely his personal position, but a demand repeatedly raised by the international community and the United Nations.

Asked whether he supported beginning a process of normalising relations with the Taliban under the current circumstances, Karzai said he wanted a process in which Afghans could come together and find a solution for the country’s future, one in which all people felt included, had a sense of belonging and enjoyed their rights.

He said the goal should be to build a country in which all Afghans could live, work and make progress towards their future inside Afghanistan.

Russia is the only country to have formally recognised the Taliban administration. The international community and regional countries have set conditions for recognition, including respect for human rights, the formation of an inclusive government involving ethnic groups and women, counter-terrorism measures and compliance with international obligations.

The Taliban has rejected these demands, describing them as interference in Afghanistan’s internal affairs.

Karzai said in another part of the interview that he remained in contact with several Taliban leaders and had discussed with them the importance of girls’ education and women returning to work.

He said some Taliban officials who met him understood the importance of the issue and agreed with his position.

The former Afghan president also said that despite the ban on girls’ education beyond the sixth grade and sweeping restrictions on women’s employment, he was not willing to send his daughters abroad to continue their education.

He added that, as an Afghan citizen, he felt responsible for working to create conditions in which girls could study inside the country.

Karzai said sending his daughters abroad for education would amount to accepting the current situation, something he said he would never do.

Afghan political figures, including Abdul Rashid Dostum, Salahuddin Rabbani, Atta Mohammad Noor, Mohammad Mohaqiq, Karim Khalili, and Sarwar Danish have reacted to the killing of senior NRF commander Hasib Panjshiri.

The Taliban said on Thursday, 20 August, that Hasib Panjshiri had been killed during what it described as a complex operation by special forces.

Karim Khalili, leader of the Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan mourned the death of the senior NRF commander, describing him as a symbol for many Afghans of courage, resistance, sacrifice and determination in defence of freedom, dignity and human dignity.

Mohammad Mohaqiq, leader of the People’s Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan, described Hasib Panjshiri as one of the influential figures of the National Resistance Front and offered condolences to his family, comrades and supporters.

At the same time, the Afghanistan Justice and Freedom Party, led by Sarwar Danish, issued a statement saying that Panjshiri’s death came at a time when Afghanistan was under what it described as authoritarianism, monopoly of power and repression of civil and political freedoms of the Taliban, adding that his death highlighted the heavy price being paid for defending freedom and the people’s right to determine their future.

Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum, leader of the National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan, said the “fire of resistance” against the Taliban would not be extinguished by Hasib Panjshiri’s death in direct fighting with the group.

Dostum said the path of resistance had become clearer and expressed hope that what he called the Taliban’s “rule of oppression and tyranny” would eventually be removed from Afghanistan.

Salahuddin Rabbani, leader of Jamiat-e Islami Afghanistan, said in response to Hasib Panjshiri’s death that by killing and threatening opponents, the Taliban was strengthening the determination of Afghans to build a dignified and law-based future.

Rabbani said history had shown that no oppressor has ever prevailed against the will of the people, adding that Afghanistan was no exception.

He described Hasib Panjshiri as someone who had “stood courageously against oppression and tyranny” and lost his life while defending Afghanistan.

Sami Sadat, head of the United Front of Afghanistan, also offered condolences to Panjshiri’s family and comrades, describing him as a proud fighter for freedom.

Sadat said fighters of the United Front of Afghanistan would ensure that Panjshiri’s place on the battlefield did not remain vacant.

Atta Mohammad Noor, a senior figure in Jamiat-e Islami Afghanistan, also issued a message referring to Panjshiri as the “Eagle of the Hindu Kush”. Noor described his death as a painful and irreparable loss.

Khalid Amiri, a commander of the National Resistance Front, described Panjshiri as loyal, sincere, honourable, courageous and steadfast.

Amiri said Panjshiri had been not only a comrade-in-arms but also a brother, a companion through difficult years and a man of the toughest battlefields.

He said Hasib Panjshiri’s absence from the ranks of the National Resistance Front would always be felt, but added that his “blood would never go unanswered” and that the path he had followed until his final moments would continue with “even greater determination than before”.

Hasib Panjshiri was a prominent commander of the National Resistance Front. Before the fall of the former republic order in Afghanistan, he joined the National Directorate of Security’s special units after completing military training and took part in various operations.

After the Taliban entered Kabul in August 2021, Panjshiri went to Panjshir and continued fighting against the group. In recent years, several images and videos had also emerged showing him alongside NRF forces in the foothills of the Hindu Kush region in Afghanistan.

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