WASHINGTON, DC — Talks between the
US and
the
Taliban continued in Doha earlier this week to discuss earthquake aid, the
US State Department said Friday, months after the two parties last meet in the
Qatari capital in March.
اضافة اعلان
The Taliban is seeking a way to unlock some the
country’s foreign reserves — currently frozen by the US — following a
devastating earthquake last month, with the US looking for assurances the money
would go to help the population.
During the meetings Wednesday and Thursday, the US
reiterated an earlier pledge of $55 million in new assistance for earthquake
relief, the State Department said in a statement Friday.
And “the two sides discussed in detail US actions to
preserve $3.5 billion in Afghan central bank reserves for the benefit of the
Afghan people,” the statement said, money which the White House said last week
the US was “urgently” working to sort out.
Last week’s 5.9-magnitude earthquake in eastern
Afghanistan, which killed more than 1,000 people and left tens of thousands
homeless, adds urgency to the funding debate.
“The US expressed condolences for the loss of life
and suffering in Afghanistan caused by recent earthquakes,” the State
Department said of the meeting, which was led by Special Representative for
Afghanistan Thomas West.
The US raised “concerns regarding increased
interference by the Taliban in the delivery of humanitarian assistance” and
“concerns regarding transparency in delivery of services,” the statement said
of the aid.
According to the State Department, US
representatives also pushed the Taliban authorities on women’s rights — a
sticking point which led Washington to cancel talks in Doha in March, when the
group closed girls’ secondary schools in Afghanistan.
“The US supports the
Afghan people’s demands that
girls be allowed to return to school and that women be allowed to work,
contribute to the country’s economic growth, and move and express themselves
freely,” the statement said.
The hardline Islamist Taliban took over in August
2021 after the US gave up a 20-year military effort.
Washington at the time froze $7 billion in reserves
and the international community halted billions in direct aid that Afghanistan
and its population of roughly 40 million people had relied on.
The currency has collapsed and the country descended
into a serious economic crisis, although some assistance has been restored.
The Taliban are still considered a terrorist group by the
US, which has insisted that any improvement of relations would be dependent on
meeting key concerns.
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