The highest meeting since leaving Afghanistan An American delegation meets Taliban officials in Doha

The US delegation is expected to pressure the Taliban at the Doha meeting to continue providing safe passage for US citizens and others to get out of Afghanistan, and also for the release of kidnapped American Mark Frerichs.

Two US government officials told Reuters that a delegation from the US administration will meet prominent representatives of the Taliban in the Qatari capital, Doha, today, Saturday, and tomorrow, in the first direct high-level meeting since the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan at the end of last August, and the US State Department said that The meeting is not about recognizing the Taliban.

The two officials explained that the US delegation that will meet with Taliban officials includes officials from the State Department, the Agency for International Development and intelligence agencies, while the Taliban delegation will include members of the transitional government formed by the movement weeks ago.

The two sources added that the US delegation will pressure the movement, which has been ruling Afghanistan since mid-August, to continue providing safe passage for US citizens and others to get out of Afghanistan, and also for the release of the kidnapped American Mark Frerichs in Afghanistan.

In addition, the Doha meeting will address a priority issue for Washington, which is to get the Taliban to fulfill their commitment not to turn Afghanistan into a stronghold of Al-Qaeda or other extremist organizations.

No confession

The US State Department told Al-Jazeera that Doha's upcoming meeting with the Taliban is not about granting recognition or legalization, stressing that "we are still clear that any legitimacy for the Taliban must be gained through the actions of the movement," and the ministry stated that America's priority is "continuing safe passage from Afghanistan." To the Americans and Afghans to whom we have an obligation."

"This meeting is a continuation of realistic communication with the Taliban, which we are doing on matters vital to national security," a senior administration official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A high-level delegation from the Afghan government, headed by Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaki, arrived in Doha on Friday morning to hold high-level talks with Qatari officials. and Mawlawi Nour Jalal, Deputy Minister of Interior, in addition to other officials.

Since its formation, the Afghan government has expressed its aspiration to establish relations with various countries of the world on the basis of mutual respect, and urged the international community to continue providing humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people.

In this context, the Permanent Representative of the Afghan Interim Government to the United Nations, Muhammad Shaheen, held a meeting in Doha with ambassadors of Arab and Western countries, including the United States. Unfinished Reconstruction Projects in Afghanistan.

Money transfer

In the meantime, Reuters quoted sources it described as informed that international officials are secretly planning to fly funds to the needy in Afghanistan, while avoiding funding the Taliban government.

The agency also quoted its sources as saying that donor countries want to establish a fund for financial appropriations to help pay salaries and keep schools and hospitals open.

A senior EU official said that if that country collapses, a heavy price will be paid, and no one wants to rush to recognize the Taliban, but there is a need to deal with it.

Sources told Reuters that the emergency funding may be transferred to Kabul for distribution directly to the poor through banks with the approval of the Taliban, but without their participation, as each person receives payments of less than $ 200.

According to the World Bank, the departure of foreign forces - which were led by the United States - and many international donors deprived Afghanistan of funding that covered about 75% of public spending.

OTHER

It was claimed by the Islamic State 60 people were killed in the bombing of a Hazara mosque during Friday prayers in the Afghan province of Kunduz.

Sixty people were killed and more than 100 were wounded in an explosion targeting a mosque for the Shiite Hazara during Friday prayers in the Khanabad district of Kunduz province in northern Afghanistan, while the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the bombing.

The sources had confirmed earlier the occurrence of a large number of dead and wounded in the bombing in the area inhabited by a majority of the Shiite Hazara sect.

The Undersecretary of the Afghan Ministry of Information, Zabihullah Mujahid, said that a special unit of the government forces arrived in the area and began investigations into the incident.

Mujahid condemned the attack and vowed in a tweet to the Islamic State organization, adding that the Taliban movement will pursue the perpetrators of what he called the heinous crime and will punish them.

Al-Jazeera correspondent in Kabul, Ihab Al-Aqdi, said earlier that the nature of the explosion had not yet been determined, whether it was a suicide attack or an explosive device explosion.

The reporter pointed out that it is the first time that this sect has been targeted with an attack since the American withdrawal last August, and it is the second time that a mosque has been targeted by a bombing operation, after the bombing incident that took place last Sunday at one of the entrances to a mosque in the capital, Kabul, which led to the killing and wounding of dozens of them. Taliban leaders were offering condolences to one of their leaders on the death of his mother.

Afghanistan recently witnessed a number of attacks and bombings, most of which were claimed by the Islamic State, including an attack on a party hall in the city of Akjah ​​(in the northern province of Jowzjan), with an explosion that killed a bride and wounded 5 others.

And at the beginning of this month, the Taliban announced that it had raided an ISIS hideout, killing and arresting a number of its members, one day after the spokesman for the caretaker government in Afghanistan announced that the Taliban special forces had been assigned the task of tracking ISIS fighters.

Ambassadors meeting

On the Afghan issue, the Permanent Representative of the Interim Government to the United Nations, Muhammad Shaheen, held a meeting in the Qatari capital with Western and Arab ambassadors.

Shaheen said - during his meeting with ambassadors of foreign and Arab countries, including the United States in Doha - that it has been proven that isolating Afghanistan in the past was a failed policy that did not serve anyone. He made it clear that no one wants that, and all unfinished reconstruction projects in Afghanistan must begin.

He added that his country is ready to deal with the international community on the basis of mutual interests, and to resolve issues through talks, understanding and positive interaction.

On the other hand, Reuters quoted well-informed sources as saying that international officials are secretly planning to fly funds to the needy in Afghanistan, while avoiding funding the Taliban government.

The agency also quoted its sources as saying that donor countries want to establish a fund for financial appropriations to help pay salaries and keep schools and hospitals open.

A senior EU official said that if that country collapses, a heavy price will be paid, and no one wants to rush to recognize the Taliban, but there is a need to deal with it.

In the same context, the European Union announced Thursday that the request of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for the bloc to receive 42,500 Afghan refugees over a period of 5 years can be fulfilled, although any decision in this regard is up to the member states.

For his part, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that his country is ready to cooperate with the United States, the European Union and NATO on the situation in Afghanistan.