US diplomats meet Taliban leaders for critical talks on Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis

Talks not an ‘indication of recognition or any kind of indication of normalisation or legitimacy of the Taliban’, says US

Afghan burqa-clad women walk past a Taliban security personnel along a street in Jalalabad (AFP via Getty Images)

A delegation of American diplomats have sat down with representatives of the Taliban regime in Doha for the first time since the Western-backed regime in Afghanistan fell in 2021.

US state department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel had pre-emptively said last week that the rare talks were not to be construed as “any kind of indication of recognition or any kind of indication of normalisation or legitimacy of the Taliban”, amid concerns about human rights abuses and gender apartheid against women and girls in Afghanistan.

US special representative Thomas West and special envoy for Afghan women, girls and human rights Rina Amiri have in the past 48 hours in Doha, raised “grave concern regarding detentions, media crackdowns, and limits on religious practice”, read a statement on Tuesday by the state department.

The state department said its team of officials informed the Taliban that Washington was ready to engage in technical talks on economic stability while repeating its concerns about “deteriorating” human rights in Afghanistan.

Stating that the American delegation expressed deep concern about the humanitarian crisis under the caretaker regime, the department said the Taliban was asked to reverse hardline policies implemented on Afghan citizens after the US and Nato forces had pulled out of the country.

“US officials urged the Taliban to reverse policies responsible for the deteriorating human rights situation in Afghanistan, particularly for women, girls, and vulnerable communities,” the state department said.

“US officials expressed grave concern regarding detentions, media crackdowns, and limits on religious practice. The United States expressed support for the Afghan people’s demands for their rights to be respected and for their voices to shape the future of the country.”

Afghanistan’s financial crisis in the wake of no official and legally recognised international funding was also discussed in the critical meeting.

Officials from the American delegation met with representatives of the Afghan Central Bank and Afghan finance ministry to speak about the state of the country’s economy and the mounting challenges its banking sector faces.

Mr West tweeted a statement after the meeting, saying the dialogue was “two-way, detailed, candid, and needs to continue, in support of the Afghan people and to protect interests”.

The state department said US officials noted recent data indicating “declining inflation, growth of merchandise exports and imports in Afghanistan in 2023, and voiced openness to a technical dialogue regarding economic stabilisation issues soon”.

In the statement, seen as the first such document that could imply offers of aid for the Taliban’s de facto authorities, the department also claimed acknowledgement of large-scale terrorist attacks against Afghan citizens and the reduction of Opium trade – two demerits of the hardline Islamist regime.

“US officials pressed for the immediate and unconditional release of detained US citizens, noting that these detentions were a significant obstacle to positive engagement,” the statement said.