White House -During a trip to Doha this week, U.S. officials will meet Taliban representatives and “technocratic professionals” from important Afghan ministries, the State Department announced on Wednesday. They will also talk about economic challenges, security concerns, and women’s rights.
US officials meet Taliban in Doha: The State Department announced that from July 26 to July 31, Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West and Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls, and Human Rights Rina Amiri will visit Astana, Kazakhstan, and Doha, Qatar.
According to the statement, they will discuss Afghanistan with representatives from Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan while in Astana. It also said that they will meet with women’s rights activists from the civil society.
According to the State Department, U.S. representatives will meet with the Taliban team in Doha to address humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan, security concerns, women’s rights, stabilising the Afghan economy, and efforts to combat drug production and trafficking.
When questioned about the visit, Vedant Patel, a deputy spokesperson for the State Department, reiterated American concerns about Taliban-ruled Afghanistan’s violations of human rights and the marginalisation of women and girls by saying that the meetings do not “mean any kind of indication of recognition or any kind of indication of normalisation or legitimacy of the Taliban.”
“This doesn’t mean that American policy has changed in any way. When it is in our best interests, we will engage with the Taliban in a respectful manner, Patel added.
when a 20-year struggle, the Taliban took back control of Afghanistan in 2021 when NATO and American soldiers fled. During the chaotic exodus, observers witnessed men clinging to aircraft as they taxied along runways, and thousands of frantic Afghans scrambling to enter Kabul Airport. An Islamic State suicide bomber killed 13 American service members and more than 150 Afghans outside an airport gate.
Last month, a State Department assessment criticised Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden for the drawdown, which Trump negotiated and Biden oversaw.