The ongoing tussle within the Afghan diplomatic mission in India for control of the embassy in Delhi entered another phase on Friday with the consul-general in Mumbai and acting consul-general in Hyderabad claiming to have assumed leadership of the establishment in the capital hours after outgoing ambassador Farid Mamundzay declared it permanently closed.

The embassy put out a detailed statement early on Friday morning announcing permanent closure citing “constant pressure from both the Taliban and the Indian government to relinquish control”.

Stating that there are no more diplomats from the Afghan Republic — the Taliban have renamed it Afghan Emirate — in India, the embassy statement said: “The only individuals present in India are diplomats affiliated with the Taliban. The diplomats of the Afghan Republic have handed over the mission solely to the Indian government.”

Later in the day, the consul-general of Afghanistan in Mumbai, Zakia Wardak, and acting consul-general in Hyderabad, Sayed Mohammad Ibrahimkhil, issued a statement claiming to have assumed leadership of the embassy in Delhi in a near action replay of the chain of events that followed Mamundzay and his team’s decision to cease operations in Delhi from October 1.