Taliban, US kick off first talks after Afghanistan withdrawal

Taliban officials outside a Shiite mosque after a suicide attack. Pic/AFP

Senior Taliban officials and US representatives have discussed "opening a new page" in their countries' relationship, as they kicked off talks in Doha, according to Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister, Al Jazeera reported.

It is the first such meeting since US forces withdrew from Afghanistan in late August, ending a 20-year military presence there, and the Taliban's rise to power in the nation. Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister Mullah Amir Khan Muttaqi said the focus of the Afghan delegation was humanitarian aid, as well as the implementation of the agreement the Taliban had signed with Washington last year, which paved the way for the final US withdrawal, the report said.

The minister said the Afghan delegation had asked the US to lift its ban on the reserves of Afghanistan's central bank. He also said that the US would offer Afghan people vaccines against Covid-19, the report said. Terrorism will also feature in the talks, said a second official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

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