Taliban meet EU-US delegation seeking recognition and aid

Group badly in need of assistance as Afghanistan's economy is in a parlous state

Taliban representatives meet with US and European delegates in Doha, Qatar, on October 12, 2021. Reuters

The Taliban held their first face-to-face talks with a joint US-EU delegation Tuesday in Qatar as Brussels pledged one billion euros ($1.2 billion) in aid for Afghanistan.

The hardline group are seeking recognition as well as assistance to avoid a humanitarian disaster after they returned to power in August following the withdrawal of US troops after 20 years of war.

UN chief Antonio Guterres earlier urged the world to donate to drought-hit and impoverished Afghanistan to head off economic collapse, but also slammed the Taliban's “broken” promises to Afghan women and girls.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the EU aid package, meant “to avert a major humanitarian and socio-economic collapse”, at a virtual G20 summit hosted by Italy on Tuesday.

She stressed the funds are “direct support” for Afghans and would be channelled to international organisations working on the ground, not to the Taliban's interim government, which Brussels does not recognise.

“We have been clear about our conditions for any engagement with the Afghan authorities, including on the respect of human rights,” she said.

“So far, the reports speak for themselves. But the Afghan people should not pay the price of the Taliban's actions.”

The Taliban badly need assistance as Afghanistan's economy is in a parlous state, with most aid cut off even as winter nears and food prices and unemployment continue to rise.

EU countries are wary over the prospect of a surge of Afghan asylum seekers trying to enter the bloc, as happened in 2015 with Syrians fleeing their war.

Brussels' calculation is that donating money to help stabilise Afghanistan and assist the countries located between it and Europe could stem any flow.

The direct talks held in Doha on Tuesday were enabled by Qatar, which has long hosted a Taliban political office.

“I think engaging with [the Taliban] is the most important now,” said Mutlaq Al Qahtani, special envoy of Qatar's foreign minister, who brushed aside the question of whether to recognise a Taliban government.

“A priority as we speak now is the humanitarian [situation], is education, is free passage” of people wishing to leave, he told the Global Security Forum conference in Doha.

EU spokeswoman Nabila Massrali said the meeting with the Taliban would “allow the US and European side to address issues” including respect for women's rights and preventing Afghanistan becoming a haven for “terrorist” groups.

“This is an informal exchange at technical level. It does not constitute recognition of the 'interim government'," she said.

The Taliban regime, still yet to be recognised as a legitimate government by any other country, is also facing a security threat from ISIS-K, who have launched a series of deadly attacks.

“We want positive relationships with the whole world,” the Taliban's acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said at an earlier event in Qatar.

“We believe in balanced international relations. We believe such a balanced relationship can save Afghanistan from instability,” said Mr Muttaqi, who led the Taliban delegation Saturday for the first in-person talks with US officials since the American pullout.

Mr Guterres earlier underscored discontent with the Taliban over its treatment of women despite vows it would not repeat its earlier hardline rule.

“I am particularly alarmed to see promises made to Afghan women and girls by the Taliban being broken,” he told reporters Monday.

Afghanistan's boys were allowed to return to secondary schools three weeks ago, but girls have been told to stay at home along with women teachers in much of the country, though they can attend primary school.

Asked about the exclusion of girls, Mr Muttaqi claimed their schools had been closed because of Covid-19 — a public health threat he said had lessened — but didn't explain why boys' schools had opened.

Mr Muttaqi also insisted there was no discrimination against the Shiite community and claimed that ISIS-K was being tamed.

“Whatever preparations they had made have been neutralised 98 per cent,” he said without providing details.

ISIS-K claimed a bombing of a Shiite mosque that killed more than 60 people on Friday, the deadliest attack since the US pullout.

Underlining the shaky security situation, the US and Britain warned their citizens on Monday to avoid certain hotels in Kabul.