UN arms embargo on Afghanistan (Taliban)

In response to on-going violent conflict in Afghanistan in October 1996 UN Security Council Resolution 1076 (PDF) imposed a voluntary arms embargo on Afghanistan, calling upon all States to end the supply of arms and ammunition to all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan. There has been no UN Security Council Resolution that lifted the voluntary embargo, but after the US invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001 it was of no further practical relevance.

In October 1999 UN Security Council Resolution 1267 (PDF) imposed a ban on air transport related to and a freeze of all assets of one group in Afghanistan, the Taliban. This was done in response to the Taliban being involved in human rights abuses, the killing of Iranian diplomats, opium trade and providing a safe haven for Usama bin Laden and his associates. The Taliban had emerged as a significant military and political force in Afghanistan in late 1994 and by 1996 they effectively controlled Afghanistan.

In December 2000 UN Security Council Resolution 1333 (PDF) established an arms embargo on those parts of Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban. The imposition of an arms embargo on part of the territory of a state raised different implementation challenges from an embargo on a state. Therefore a Committee of Experts prepared a report on how implementation of the embargo could be monitored (S/2001/511). A Monitoring Group was established in July 2001 in response to UN Security Council Resolution 1363 (PDF). 

In January 2002 UN Security Council Resolution 1390 (PDF) modified the arms embargo to apply to any sale or supplies to either the Taliban or to the Al-Qaida organization regardless of location.