The United Nations Security Council voted Monday to extend sanctions against the Taliban, expressing concerns about the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, including continued attacks by the group and other terror and criminal organizations.
The vote, renewing financial, travel and arms-trade restrictions on the group and its supporters, came on the same day that the Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a security convoy north of Kabul that left six Americans dead. The day before, a U.S. Army veteran and aid worker was found shot to death in a Kabul apartment.
Also on Monday, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon released a report that documented an uptick in fighting in Afghanistan, and a jump in assassinations and abductions by "anti-government elements."
The extension, approved unanimously, renews existing sanctions for another 18 months.
The Security Council also noted the continuing threat of ISIS moving into the region, and the secretary general's report mentioned unconfirmed accounts of clashes between ISIS and the Taliban.
