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WASHINGTON (AP) – US officials will meet with senior Taliban officials on Saturday and Sunday for talks aimed at facilitating the evacuations of foreign citizens and at-risk Afghans from Afghanistan, a US official said on Friday.
The aim of the talks in Doha, Qatar, would be to compel the Afghan Taliban leadership to commit to allowing Americans and other foreign nationals to leave Afghanistan, as well as Afghans who have previously worked for it. US military or government and other Afghan allies, the official said. .
The manager spoke on condition of anonymity as the person was not allowed to speak by name at meetings.
The Biden administration has responded to questions and complaints about the slow pace of US-facilitated evacuations from Taliban-ruled Afghanistan since the last US soldiers and diplomats left in late August.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said Thursday that 105 U.S. citizens and 95 green card holders have since departed on U.S.-facilitated flights. This number had not changed for over a week.
American veterans and others have helped others leave the country on charter flights, and some Americans and others have crossed land borders.
That leaves dozens of U.S. citizens still looking to get out, according to the State Department, as well as thousands of green card holders and Afghans and their family members considered eligible for U.S. visas. US officials cited the difficulty of checking flight manifests without any US officials on the ground in Afghanistan to help, as well as other delays.
The Americans also intend to pressure the Taliban to respect the rights of women and girls, many of whom would prevent the Taliban from returning to work and into classrooms, and Afghans in general, and for form an inclusive government, the official said.
U.S. officials will also encourage Taliban officials to give aid agencies free access to areas in need amid the economic upheavals that followed the U.S. departure and the Taliban takeover.
The official stressed that the session does not imply that the United States recognizes the Taliban as the legitimate governors of the country.
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