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The United States has agreed to provide humanitarian aid to a desperately poor Afghanistan on the brink of economic disaster, but has refused to politically recognize the country’s new rulers, the Taliban said on Sunday.
The statement came at the end of the first direct talks between former enemies since the chaotic withdrawal of US troops in late August.
The US statement was less definitive, saying only that the two sides “discussed the delivery by the United States of solid humanitarian aid, directly to the Afghan people”.
The talks came as the United States and Britain warned their citizens on Sunday evening to stay away from hotels in the capital, Kabul, especially the famous Serena. “US citizens who are at or near the Serena Hotel should leave immediately,” the US State Department said, citing threats to security in the region.
In an update on its advice not to travel to Afghanistan, the UK Foreign Office said: “Due to the increased risks, you are advised not to stay in hotels, especially in Kabul (like the Serena Hotel). “
The Serena is Kabul’s best-known luxury hotel, popular with foreign visitors before the city fell to the Taliban eight weeks ago.
The Taliban said the talks in Doha, Qatar, “went well,” with Washington releasing humanitarian aid to Afghanistan after agreeing not to tie such assistance to formal recognition of the Taliban.
The United States has made it clear that the talks were by no means a preamble to recognition of the Taliban, who seized power on August 15 after the fall of the allied government of the United States.
State Department spokesman Ned Price called the talks “frank and professional,” with the United States reiterating that the Taliban would be judged by their actions rather than their words.
“The US delegation focused on security and terrorism issues and the safe passage of US citizens, other foreign nationals and our Afghan partners, as well as on human rights, including the meaningful participation of women and girls in all aspects of Afghan society, ”said Price. in a report.
Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen said the movement’s acting foreign minister assured the United States during the talks that the Taliban were determined to ensure that Afghan soil was not used by extremists to launch attacks against other countries.
On Saturday, however, the Taliban ruled out cooperation with Washington to contain the increasingly active Islamic State group in Afghanistan.
The group, an enemy of the Taliban, claimed responsibility for several recent attacks, including Friday’s suicide bombing that killed 46 minority Shia Muslims. Washington considers the Islamic State to be its greatest terrorist threat emanating from Afghanistan.
“We are able to attack Daesh independently,” Shaheen said when asked if the Taliban would work with the United States to contain the Islamic State affiliate. He used an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State.
Bill Roggio, a senior researcher at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies that tracks militant groups, agreed that the Taliban did not need Washington’s help to track down and destroy ISIS’s Afghan affiliate, known as province name of the Islamic State of Khorasan, or ISKP.
The Taliban “have fought for 20 years to expel the United States, and the last thing they need is the return of the United States. Nor does he need the help of the United States, ”said Roggio, who produces the foundation’s Long War Journal. “The Taliban face the difficult and tedious task of uprooting the ISKP cells and its limited infrastructure. He has all the knowledge and tools he needs to do it.
The IS affiliate does not have the advantage of the havens in Pakistan and Iran that the Taliban had in their fight against the United States, Roggio said. However, he warned that the Taliban’s long-standing support for al-Qaida made them unreliable as a counterterrorism partner with the United States.
The Taliban gave refuge to al-Qaida before this group carried out the attacks of September 11. This sparked the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 which ousted the Taliban from power.
During the meeting, US officials were to put pressure on the Taliban to allow Americans and others to leave Afghanistan. In its statement, the Taliban said without further details that they “would facilitate the movement of principle of foreign nationals”.
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