Saudi diplomats settled in Pakistan after leaving Afghanistan.
Diplomats from Saudi Arabia left Afghanistan by air and moved to Pakistan late last week amid warnings of an increased risk of attacks in Kabul, a diplomatic source and two news sources said.
The Taliban, however, say that the departure of the Saudi diplomats is temporary and not for security reasons. “Zabihullah Mujahid”, the spokesman of the interim government of the Taliban, said: “Some employees of the Saudi Arabian Embassy have gone out for some kind of training and will return.”
According to Reuters, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry refuses to comment on this matter and refers questions to the Saudi Embassy in Islamabad. On the other hand, the Government Communications Office of Riyadh and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan did not respond to requests for comment on this matter.
It is not yet known how long the Saudi diplomats have been stationed outside Afghanistan or how many of them have left the country.
Since the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan and foreign forces left the country, many countries operate their embassies in Afghanistan from Pakistan and Qatar.
However, a number of countries have maintained their diplomatic presence in Afghanistan.
