Afghan Taliban Official's Puzzling European Visit Stirs Controversy

Abdul Bari Omar, head of the Taliban-led food and medicine authority, poses in this undated photo at the 2nd World Local Production Forum in the Hague in November. The photo was posted to the social media platform, X.

Germany confirmed Saturday that it has launched an investigation into an alleged unauthorized trip to the country by a senior member of Afghanistan's Islamist Taliban regime. The controversy erupted after Abdul Bari Omar, head of the Taliban-led food and medicine authority, appeared at a mosque in Cologne on Thursday, addressing an audience largely made up of Afghan expatriates. The German Interior Ministry, on the X social media platform, condemned the appearance of Omar as "completely unacceptable," saying Taliban members have no place in the country. It urgently sought clarification from the organizers, the Turkish-Islamic Union, or DITIB, on how the appearance came about. "Nobody is allowed to offer radical Islamists a platform in Germany. The Taliban are responsible for massive human rights violations," the ministry wrote. "The responsible authorities are investigating the case intensively."