A Taliban delegation arrived in the Qatari capital on Sunday to call on the international community, which does not recognize their status, for humanitarian aid, a British government official said.
Led by Amir Taliban Mutaki, the Taliban-appointed foreign minister, the delegation is expected to meet in Doha today with diplomats from European countries and Gulf states, who are expected to brief them on what awaits human rights activists.
Afghanistan is facing a deep humanitarian crisis since the Taliban came to power in August after twenty years of catastrophic war, a move that meant the cessation of international aid, which accounted for 75% of Afghanistan’s budget. According to the UN, 55% of the population, in other words 23 million Afghans, are at risk of starvation.
Britain “continues to have a pragmatic dialogue with the Taliban”, mainly with the aim of “fulfilling our commitment to help the Afghans”, said a British government official.
He said it was “necessary to maintain open channels of communication, to have contacts and diplomatic networks to raise concerns”, especially on “human rights” and “especially those of women”.
On Friday, the United States seized $ 7 billion in Afghan central bank reserves, a move denounced by the Taliban.
On Thursday, a Taliban delegation pledged to provide guarantees for the protection of workers in humanitarian organizations in Afghanistan, including women, and to promote education, according to NGOs invited to Geneva.
In late January, a Taliban delegation traveled to Oslo, Norway, on their controversial first visit to Europe since taking power on August 15, for meetings with members of Afghanistan’s civil society and Western diplomats.
The Taliban had ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, applying their own fundamentalist version of Islamic law. They were ousted from power by the US military and its allies before returning to power in the summer, taking advantage of the withdrawal of Western troops and the collapse of the government they supported.
The UN has been calling for months to ease sanctions imposed on Kabul from August 2021 to prevent the country from collapsing.
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