Sanctions Profile: Afghanistan

At a glance

UN sanctions relating to Afghanistan were first introduced in 1999 by UN Security Council Resolution 1267, and required all Member States to impose an arms embargo, asset freezes, and travel bans on people and entities associated with Osama bin Laden or the Taliban, as designated by the relevant UN sanctions committee.

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In 2011, UN sanctions relating to Afghanistan were split into two regimes by UN Security Council Resolutions 1988 and 1989 – one targeting ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida, and the other relating to the Taliban. The ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida measures are discussed in greater detail on the Terrorism Sanctions page.

The EU implemented UN sanctions relating to Afghanistan in 1999 by Council Common Position 1999/727/CFSP, followed by Council Regulation (EC) No 337/2000. In 2011, the EU implemented the split in UN sanctions. It implemented the Afghanistan specific sanctions, which target the Taliban, under Council Regulation (EU) No 753/2011 and Council Decision 2011/486/CFSP and repurposed the existing regime (Council Regulation (EC) No 881/2002) to target only Al-Qaida. The EU does not impose its own autonomous sanctions on Afghanistan.

Summary of Current UN Sanctions:

Targeted

  • Arms embargo
  • Asset freeze
  • Travel ban

Designation Criteria

People and entities designated prior to the adoption of UNSC Resolution 1988 as the Taliban, and other people and entities associated with the Taliban in constituting a threat to the peace, stability, and security of Afghanistan. Acts or activities that make an individual or entity eligible for listing under the sanctions include:

  1. participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf of, or in support of;
  2. supply, selling, or transferring arms and related material to;
  3. recruiting for; or
  4. otherwise supporting the acts or activities of those designated and associated with the Taliban in constituting a threat to the peace, stability and security of Afghanistan.

Summary of Current EU Sanctions:

Targeted

  • Arms embargo
  • Asset freeze
  • Travel ban

Designation Criteria

People and entities who:

  1. were designated immediately prior to the date of adoption of UNSC Resolution 1988 (17 June 2011) as the Taliban, and those associated with them; or
  2. have been designated by the UN Sanctions Committee as being associated with the Taliban in constituting a threat to the peace, stability, and security of Afghanistan.

 

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Court Judgments on Afghanistan Sanctions

News

UK passes Sanctions (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019

The UK has passed the Sanctions (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, SI 2019/26, which make amendments to a number of EU sanctions regimes to ensure (inter alia) that they continue to apply within the UK after Brexit. The Regulations will come into force on exit day.

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EU implements UN amendment to Afghanistan listing

Earlier this month, the UN Security Council amended the listing of Mohammed Omar Ghulam Nabi under its Afghanistan sanctions by altering his UN designation date from 31 January 2001 to 12 April 2000. UN press release here. Today, the EU has implemented that UN amendment by adopting Council Implementing Decision (CFSP) 2018/656 and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) […]

AfghanistanAfghanistan

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EU updates Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen & Terrorism sanctions

Syria The EU has de-listed Hisham Ikhtiyar and Anisa Al-Assad from its sanctions on Syria, and deleted a duplicate entry for Major General Fahd (aka. Lt General Fahid). See Regulation 2016/1735 implementing Regulation 36/2012 and Decision 2016/1746 implementing Decision 2013/255/CFSP. Afghanistan The EU has amended the list of people and entities under its sanctions on […]

SyriaSyria AfghanistanAfghanistan YemenYemen TerrorismTerrorism

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EU Afghanistan, Somalia and Tunisia listing updates

In order to implement decisions by the UN Security Council to amend its sanctions listings, the EU has added Torek Agha to its Afghanistan list and deleted Ali Ahmed Nur Jim’ale from its Somalia list. The US sanctioned Torek Agha in October for being “a long-standing Taliban member”, who had “been central to spearheading brutal […]

AfghanistanAfghanistan SomaliaSomalia TunisiaTunisia TerrorismTerrorism

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EU sanctions updates

The EU has updated its Afghanistan, Libya, Belarus, and Counter-Terrorism sanctions regimes. Afghanistan The EU’s Afghanistan sanctions target people associated with the Taliban and who constitute a threat to the peace, stability, or security of the country. The EU has added Abdul Basir Noorzai and the entity Haji Basir and Zarjmil Company Hawala to its […]

TerrorismTerrorism LibyaLibya AfghanistanAfghanistan BelarusBelarus

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Show All

Current Sanctions

EU UK

Consolidated

Council Regulation (EU) No 753/2011

Parent Regulation

Council Regulation (EU) No 753/2011

Amended by:

Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 968/2011

Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1049/2011

Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 263/2012

Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2012

Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 643/2012

Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 705/2012

Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1139/2012

Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1244/2012

Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 86/2013

Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 261/2013

Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 451/2013

Council Regulation (EU) No 517/2013

Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 261/2014

Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 263/2014

Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1057/2014

Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1322

Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2043

Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1736

Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/404

Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/648

Consolidated

Council Decision 2011/486/CFSP

Parent Decision

Council Decision 2011/486/CFSP

Amended by:

Council Implementing Decision 2011/639/CFSP

Council Implementing Decision 2011/698/CFSP

Council Implementing Decision 2012/167/CFSP

Council Implementing Decision 2012/334/CFSP

Council Implementing Decision 2012/393/CFSP

Council Implementing Decision 2012/454/CFSP

Council Implementing Decision 2012/745/CFSP

Council Implementing Decision 2012/809/CFSP

Council Implementing Decision 2013/73/CFSP

Council Implementing Decision 2013/145/CFSP

Council Implementing Decision 2013/219/CFSP

Council Implementing Decision 2014/140/CFSP

Council Implementing Decision 2014/142/CFSP

Council Implementing Decision 2014/701/CFSP

Council Implementing Decision (CFSP) 2015/1332

Council Implementing Decision (CFSP) 2015/2054

Council Implementing Decision (CFSP) 2016/1748

Council Implementing Decision (CFSP) 2017/416

Council Implementing Decision (CFSP) 2018/656

Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018

Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (Commencement No 1) Regulations 2018

Sanctions Review Procedure (EU Exit) Regulations 2018

Sanctions (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019

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