By Mrityunjoy Kumar Jha

New Delhi, Dec 18: In a curious case, the Taliban has apparently wrongly transferred about $ 800,000 to the Afghan Embassy in Dushanbe in Tajikistan. After realising the error , the Taliban Finance Minister wants the money to be returned. The Afghan Ambassador Mohammad Zahir Aghbar, who was appointed by the deposed Ashraf Ghani government has refused to do so. Aghbar told the Tajik Avesta news agency that the money was sanctioned by the previous government for the future expenses and issuance of salaries of the staff.

"The Afghan Ministry of Finance was supposed to transfer this amount to the account of the Afghan Embassy in Tajikistan, but in August the situation in Afghanistan changed dramatically, the Taliban came to power, and Ghani fled the country," Aghbar told the agency. He said the money has been spent as per the needs of the embassy.

"We cannot return this money to the Taliban because the Taliban is not recognised not only by us, but the whole world," he said.

Dushanbe has become the sanctuary of several luminaries of the Ghani government including former vice president of Amrullah Saleh . Saleh has joined Ahmad Massoud , who leads the anti-Taliban National Resistance Front.

Aghbar, like many other Afghan envoys, has refused to pledge allegiance to the Taliban government. In September, the group of anti-Taliban Afghan envoys and political leaders had announced Afghanistan's government- in- exile headed by the former Vice-President Amrullah Saleh.

"After the escape of Ashraf Ghani and his rupture with Afghan politics, his first vice-president (Amrullah Saleh) will be leading the country," said the statement released by the Afghan embassy in Switzerland.

Afghanistan has more than 50 embassies and consulates and since the Taliban's capture of the power, they have not received any funding from the Taliban government. The Taliban control the Foreign ministry and have appointed a minister, but the move lacks legitimacy as no country in the world has recognised their government. As a result, all Afghan missions are in financial doldrums.

While some Afghan diplomats are operating on their own, offering consular services for their people living abroad, there are few who have asked for asylum from their host countries. It is therefore not surprising that the Afghan Embassy in Tajikistan is refusing to return the money that was mistakenly transferred to its account.