US, Taliban hold talks for first time since withdrawal from Afghanistan

In the first known meeting since the fall of Kabul, a US delegation led by CIA Deputy Director David Cohen sat with the Taliban on Saturday and will meet in Doha, the capital of the Gulf state, on Sunday. Persian in Qatar, CBS News has learned.

According to a US official, the White House has decided to position the CIA in a leading role in part to signal that the engagement is focused on terrorism. On Friday, an ISIS-K terrorist attack in Kunduz left dozens of people dead.

In September, Cohen said the CIA had seen “indications of a potential al-Qaeda movement into Afghanistan,” adding that the agency “would obviously keep a very close eye on this.” Defense and intelligence officials have said al Qaeda could reconstitute itself and regain the ability to attack the United States in as little as six months.

Another issue the parties are discussing is facilitating the evacuation of foreign citizens and Afghans from the country, officials on both sides said.

A State Department official described the engagement as pragmatic in nature and focused on “matters of vital national interest to the United States.” In response to a CBS News investigation, a State Department spokesperson commented via email that the meeting “is not intended to grant recognition or confer legitimacy.”

In August, CIA Director William Burns secretly met with Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar, the highest-level meeting between the group and an official in the Biden administration at the time. Baradar was at the time considered the likely head of a Taliban government; he is now deputy prime minister of the group.

US forces withdrew from Afghanistan in late August, ending a 20-year military presence there.

Doha-based Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told The Associated Press on Saturday that the talks will also review the peace deal the Taliban signed with Washington in 2020. The deal paved the way for the withdrawal final of the United States.

“Yes, there is a meeting … on bilateral relations and the implementation of the Doha agreement,” Shaheen said. “It covers various topics.

Terrorism will be present in the talks, said a second official who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The State Department spokesperson said that “the top priorities of the United States are the safe and continuous passage out of Afghanistan of American and other foreign nationals and Afghans to whom we have a special commitment who seek to leave the country and force the Taliban to honor their commitment not to allow terrorists to use Afghan soil to threaten the security of the United States or its allies. “

Since the Taliban took power, Islamic State extremists have stepped up attacks against the militant group, as well as against ethnic and religious minorities. An IS suicide bomber on Friday killed at least 46 minority Shia Muslims and injured dozens in the deadliest attack since leaving the United States.

The parties will not discuss US recognition of the Taliban or confer legitimacy on the group, the State Department official said, adding: “We remain clear that all legitimacy must be gained through the Taliban’s own actions. .

IS has carried out relentless assaults on the country’s Shia Muslims since its emergence in eastern Afghanistan in 2014. IS is also considered the greatest threat to the United States.

The 2020 US-Taliban deal, which was negotiated by the Trump administration, required the Taliban to sever ties with terrorist groups and ensured that Afghanistan would no longer harbor terrorists who could attack the United States and their allies.

It looks certain that the two sides will discuss in weekend talks how to deal with the growing threat. The Taliban have said they do not want US counterterrorism aid and warned Washington against any strikes “on the horizon” on Afghan territory from outside the country’s borders.

And, given that Afghanistan could soon count with a severe economic contraction and even a humanitarian crisis, the United States will urge the Taliban “to allow humanitarian agencies free access to areas in need,” the United States said. spokesperson for the State Department.

Margaret Brennan, Christina Ruffini and Olivia Gazis contributed to this report.