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KABUL: The Taliban representatives and the European Union delegates held meetings on Saturday in Doha to discuss economic situation in Afghanistan.
The European Union envoys met with the Taliban and discussed political and economic issues and humanitarian aid.
“Taliban and European delegates met yesterday and today and discussed issues related to various issues in Afghanistan,” spokesman of the Taliban’s political office in Qatar, Mohammad Naeem said.
Taliban rule in Afghanistan faces an economic crisis following its takeover of the landlocked country in August this year.
A day earlier, the Taliban delegation met with the special envoy of Qatar’s ministry of foreign affairs, Mutlaq Al Qahtani, to discuss ways to improve humanitarian assistance for Afghan citizens.
This meeting comes as a delegation from the Taliban is currently visiting Qatar, where a new round of negotiations between the outfit and the US will start next week.
“The delegations discussed topics related to counterterrorism, enhancing human rights and humanitarian aid. The two sides stressed on the importance of having humanitarian aid reach its beneficiaries, especially with the winter season approaching,” Qatar’s ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement on Friday, as quoted by Russian News agency Sputnik.
The US Special Representative for Afghanistan, Tom West will be meeting with the Taliban leaders in Doha next week.
“They’ll discuss our vital national interests when it comes to Afghanistan,” said State Department spokesperson Ned Price. “That includes counterterrorism, that includes a safe passage for US citizens and for Afghans to whom we have a special commitment and that includes humanitarian assistance and the economic situation of the country,” he added.
On November 8, West started his first trip in this role to Europe and Asia as the US special envoy for Afghanistan. He visited Brussels and consulted with EU and US allies on Afghanistan.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its report has mentioned that the Afghan economy could shrink by 30% or more year on year which could lead to a famine situation.
