Taliban say US has agreed to provide humanitarian aid
ISLAMABAD, OCT 11: The United States has agreed to provide humanitarian aid to a desperately poor Afghanistan on the brink of an economic disaster, while refusing to give political recognition to the Taliban rulers, according to a statement released on Sunday.
The statement came at the end of the first direct talks
between the former foes since the chaotic withdrawal of US troops at the end of
August.
The Taliban said the talks held in Doha, Qatar, went well,
with Washington freeing up humanitarian aid to Afghanistan after agreeing not
to link such assistance to formal recognition of Taliban.
The United States made it clear that the talks were in no way a preamble to recognition of the Taliban, who swept into power on Aug 15 after the US-allied government collapsed.
Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen said the
movement’s interim foreign minister assured the US during the talks that the
Taliban were committed to seeing that Afghan soil is not used by extremists to
launch attacks against other countries.
On Saturday, however, the Taliban ruled out cooperation with
Washington on containing the increasingly active militant Islamic State group
in Afghanistan.
The IS, an enemy of the Taliban, has claimed responsibility
for a number of recent attacks, including Friday’s suicide bombing that killed
46 Shias.
“We are able to tackle Daesh (IS) independently,” Shaheen
said when asked whether the Taliban would work with the US to contain the
Islamic State affiliate. He used an Arabic acronym for IS.
Bill Roggio, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defence
of Democracies who tracks militant groups, agreed the Taliban do not need
Washington’s help to hunt down and destroy Afghanistan’s IS affiliate, known as
the Islamic State in Khorasan Province.
The Taliban “fought 20 years to eject the US and the last
thing it needs is the return of the US. It also doesn’t need US help,” said
Roggio, who also produces the foundation’s Long War Journal.
The IS affiliate doesn’t have the advantage of safe havens
in Pakistan and Iran that the Taliban had in its fight against the United
States, Roggio said. However, he warned that the Taliban’s longtime support for
Al Qaeda made them unreliable as counterterrorism partners with the United
States.
The Taliban gave refuge to Al Qaeda before it carried out
the 9/11 attacks. That prompted the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan that drove
the Taliban from power.
“It is insane for the US to think the Taliban can be a
reliable counterterrorism partner, given the Taliban’s enduring support for Al
Qaeda,” Roggio said.
During the meeting, US officials were expected to press the Taliban to allow Americans and others to leave Afghanistan. In their statement, the Taliban said without elaborating that they would facilitate principled movement of foreign nationals.
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COURTESY DAWN NEWS
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