Taliban dissolves independent election commissions in Afghanistan

The Taliban has eliminated two elections commissions and a government department dedicated to peace, according to a new report. 

Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman for Afghanistan’s Taliban-run government, said it had dissolved the war-torn country’s Independent Election Commission and Electoral Complaint Commission, The Associated Press reported. 

The Taliban found the election infrastructure “unnecessary institutes for the current situation in Afghanistan,” Karimi said. 

Separately, the Taliban also announced it had done way with the country’s Ministry for Peace and Ministry of Parliamentarian Affairs. 

The commissions had been in charge of supervising elections across the country from presidential to provincial council contests. It had previously shut down the Women’s Affairs Ministry, AP reported.

The Taliban took control of the Afghan government after U.S. troops pulled out of the country earlier this year. The international community has not officially recognized the country’s government under Taliban rule fearing it could return to its harsh practices from 20 years ago, the AP noted.