Significant lapse in judgment: U.N. apologises for photo of its personnel in front of Taliban flag

Photographs surfaced of some U.N. personnel in front of a Taliban flag in Afghanistan during a visit by deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed this week to Afghanistan

The UN has apologised for "a significant lapse in judgement" after photographs surfaced of some of its personnel in front of a Taliban flag in Afghanistan during a visit by deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed this week to the war-torn country when she met the de facto authorities and expressed alarm over women’s rights violations.

Ms. Mohammed, the highest-ranking woman in the United Nations, along with Executive Director of UN Women Sima Bahous and Assistant Secretary-General of the Department of Political, Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations Khaled Khiari completed a four-day visit to Afghanistan on Friday.

During the visit, the delegation met Taliban leaders in Kabul and Kandahar and conveyed their alarm over the recent restrictions on education and work of women and girls across the country.

However, as Ms. Mohammed was meeting the group’s leaders, photographs of some UN security personnel in front of the Taliban flag drew criticism.

“That photo should never have been taken. It clearly shows a significant lapse in judgment. It was a mistake and we apologise for it. And in terms of that, I believe the supervisor for these officers has spoken to them on this,” Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told reporters here Friday when questioned about the visit and the photographs.

Mr. Haq said the photograph was taken while the Deputy Secretary-General was meeting the de facto leaders in Afghanistan. Her security had taken her to that meeting and were waiting next door, he said.

In a post on Twitter, Head of Foreign Relations for the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan Ali Maisam Nazary said the “@UN personnel in Kabul taking a photo w/a terrorist group’s flag brings the United Nation’s impartiality & integrity into question.