Very first on News: Major US officials hold very first in-particular person assembly with the Taliban given that the US killed al Qaeda’s chief in July | News Politics
News
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Top Biden administration officers satisfied in-human being with the Taliban on Saturday for the 1st time since al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed by the US in his apartment in Kabul in late July, two officers familiar with the talks stated.
The administration despatched the CIA’s deputy director and the major Point out Section formal responsible for Afghanistan to the Qatari money of Doha for the talks with the Taliban delegation which provided their head of intelligence, Abdul Haq Wasiq.
Following Zawahiri was killed in a strike, the US accused the Taliban of a “clear and blatant violation of the Doha settlement, “brokered by the Trump administration, which said that the Taliban would not harbor terrorists if US forces withdrew from Afghanistan, which they did in August 2021.
Immediately after a US drone fired lethal Hellfire missiles at Zawahiri, American officials accused Taliban leaders from the Haqqani community of realizing about Zawahiri’s whereabouts though the Taliban angrily condemned the operation.
Since then, the US has continued to engage with the Taliban, including negotiating the release of US citizen Mark Frerichs. But senior officials experienced not met face-to-experience considering the fact that a handful of days right before Zawahiri was killed on July 31.
The presence of CIA Deputy Director David Cohen and the Taliban’s Wasiq at the meeting on Saturday implies an emphasis on counterterrorism. The White Residence very last thirty day period identified as cooperation with the Taliban on counterterrorism “a function in progress.”
Cohen was accompanied by the State Department’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Tom West, who has normally led engagement with the Taliban since the US withdrawal previous yr.
Frerichs was released virtually 3 months back immediately after far more than two yrs in captivity, with support from Qatar. Administration officials reported they explained invested months negotiating with the Taliban for his release and had warned the Taliban following the strike about harming Frerichs. The finest way to rebuild have confidence in, they mentioned they instructed the Taliban, would be to launch him.
At minimum just one other American, a filmmaker named Ivor Shearer, is presently staying held by the Taliban soon after getting arrested with his Afghan producer, Faizullah Faizbakhsh, filming in the region wherever Zawahiri was killed, according to the Committee to Shield Journalists. Shearer experienced reportedly been summoned many occasions by the Taliban for questioning before his detention.
The CIA and State Section declined to remark.
Although the Taliban maintains ties with al Qaeda, they are going through an insurgency from the Islamic Point out offshoot regarded as ISIS-K. The team has routinely focused the Hazara ethnic minority in Afghanistan. At the very least 25 men and women, mostly youthful ladies, ended up killed in a suicide attack previous week at an schooling center in a predominantly Hazara community in Kabul. No just one right away claimed duty.
“The Taliban are having difficulties to avert ISIS-K attacks, producing them appear feckless, specifically in Kabul,” claims Beth Sanner, a former Deputy Director of Countrywide Intelligence who led Afghanistan analysis at the CIA. Sanner is also a Information contributor.
“[Cohen] is probable to supply a business concept that we will carry out additional strikes as we did towards Zawahiri if we find that al Qaeda members in Afghanistan are supporting operations that threaten the US or its allies,” Sanner mentioned. “ISIS-K now poses an interior Afghan risk, to the Taliban and to sectarian steadiness provided ISIS-K’s target on killing Shias, but there is some affordable concern that ISIS-K could finally switch its sights on exterior plotting if the Taliban is unable to include them.”
Past thirty day period the Biden administration introduced it had set up a $3.5 billion “Afghan Fund” with frozen Afghan money to boost economic steadiness. The money have nonetheless to be introduced mainly because the US does not believe there is a dependable institution to warranty the cash will profit the Afghan men and women, two officials explained to Information.
In its place it will be administered by an exterior overall body, unbiased of the Taliban and the country’s central bank.
Administration officers have also repeatedly elevated the plight of women and girls in their conversations with the Taliban. The United Nations rapporteur for human legal rights in Afghanistan previous thirty day period called the regression of females and ladies in Afghan society “staggering.”
“In no other place have ladies and women so fast disappeared from all spheres of general public lifetime,” Bennett said. “Despite this, women and ladies keep on being at the forefront of attempts to keep human legal rights and carry on to connect with for accountability.”
News
—
Top Biden administration officers satisfied in-human being with the Taliban on Saturday for the 1st time since al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed by the US in his apartment in Kabul in late July, two officers familiar with the talks stated.
The administration despatched the CIA’s deputy director and the major Point out Section formal responsible for Afghanistan to the Qatari money of Doha for the talks with the Taliban delegation which provided their head of intelligence, Abdul Haq Wasiq.
Following Zawahiri was killed in a strike, the US accused the Taliban of a “clear and blatant violation of the Doha settlement, “brokered by the Trump administration, which said that the Taliban would not harbor terrorists if US forces withdrew from Afghanistan, which they did in August 2021.
Immediately after a US drone fired lethal Hellfire missiles at Zawahiri, American officials accused Taliban leaders from the Haqqani community of realizing about Zawahiri’s whereabouts though the Taliban angrily condemned the operation.
Since then, the US has continued to engage with the Taliban, including negotiating the release of US citizen Mark Frerichs. But senior officials experienced not met face-to-experience considering the fact that a handful of days right before Zawahiri was killed on July 31.
The presence of CIA Deputy Director David Cohen and the Taliban’s Wasiq at the meeting on Saturday implies an emphasis on counterterrorism. The White Residence very last thirty day period identified as cooperation with the Taliban on counterterrorism “a function in progress.”
Cohen was accompanied by the State Department’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Tom West, who has normally led engagement with the Taliban since the US withdrawal previous yr.
Frerichs was released virtually 3 months back immediately after far more than two yrs in captivity, with support from Qatar. Administration officials reported they explained invested months negotiating with the Taliban for his release and had warned the Taliban following the strike about harming Frerichs. The finest way to rebuild have confidence in, they mentioned they instructed the Taliban, would be to launch him.
At minimum just one other American, a filmmaker named Ivor Shearer, is presently staying held by the Taliban soon after getting arrested with his Afghan producer, Faizullah Faizbakhsh, filming in the region wherever Zawahiri was killed, according to the Committee to Shield Journalists. Shearer experienced reportedly been summoned many occasions by the Taliban for questioning before his detention.
The CIA and State Section declined to remark.
Although the Taliban maintains ties with al Qaeda, they are going through an insurgency from the Islamic Point out offshoot regarded as ISIS-K. The team has routinely focused the Hazara ethnic minority in Afghanistan. At the very least 25 men and women, mostly youthful ladies, ended up killed in a suicide attack previous week at an schooling center in a predominantly Hazara community in Kabul. No just one right away claimed duty.
“The Taliban are having difficulties to avert ISIS-K attacks, producing them appear feckless, specifically in Kabul,” claims Beth Sanner, a former Deputy Director of Countrywide Intelligence who led Afghanistan analysis at the CIA. Sanner is also a Information contributor.
“[Cohen] is probable to supply a business concept that we will carry out additional strikes as we did towards Zawahiri if we find that al Qaeda members in Afghanistan are supporting operations that threaten the US or its allies,” Sanner mentioned. “ISIS-K now poses an interior Afghan risk, to the Taliban and to sectarian steadiness provided ISIS-K’s target on killing Shias, but there is some affordable concern that ISIS-K could finally switch its sights on exterior plotting if the Taliban is unable to include them.”
Past thirty day period the Biden administration introduced it had set up a $3.5 billion “Afghan Fund” with frozen Afghan money to boost economic steadiness. The money have nonetheless to be introduced mainly because the US does not believe there is a dependable institution to warranty the cash will profit the Afghan men and women, two officials explained to Information.
In its place it will be administered by an exterior overall body, unbiased of the Taliban and the country’s central bank.
Administration officers have also repeatedly elevated the plight of women and girls in their conversations with the Taliban. The United Nations rapporteur for human legal rights in Afghanistan previous thirty day period called the regression of females and ladies in Afghan society “staggering.”
“In no other place have ladies and women so fast disappeared from all spheres of general public lifetime,” Bennett said. “Despite this, women and ladies keep on being at the forefront of attempts to keep human legal rights and carry on to connect with for accountability.”