Taliban Afghan Talks

An Afghan delegation will attend the upcoming UN climate change summit in Azerbaijan, the foreign ministry spokesman told AFP on Saturday, marking a first since the Taliban government came to power.

Restrictions on women's rights continue to prevent Afghanistan's "reintegration" into the international community, a senior UN official said Friday, noting the Taliban's participation in upcoming talks in Doha is not legitimization of the isolated go

A group of senior American diplomats met representatives from the Taliban and technocratic professionals during which they discussed critical issues concerning Afghanistan's well-being and humanitarian crisis, the State Department said.

United States Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West rejected the need for any third party to negotiate with the Taliban government. "I and my other colleagues in the US government are working on it," he said.

The United States and the Taliban plan talks Thursday in Qatar on unlocking some of Afghanistan's reserves following a devastating earthquake, officials said, with Washington seeking ways to ensure the money goes to help the population.

Afghan Taliban and Pakistani officials will hold a meeting on Monday in Afghanistan's Torkham over trade flows and people's movement across the Durand Line, according to local media.

Talks in Oslo Sunday between the Taliban and Afghan civil society members served as an "icebreaker", on the eve of their meeting with Western diplomats to discuss human rights and the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, an Afghan participant said.

A Taliban delegation arrived Saturday in Norway for three days of talks with Western diplomats and members of Afghan civil society, which it hopes will help "transform the atmosphere of war" in Afghanistan.

The Taliban's foreign minister said Monday he held talks in Iran on the weekend with Ahmad Massoud, son of the late legendary Afghan resistance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, and guaranteed his security if he returned home.

India and France have underlined the need to ensure that Afghan territory does not become a source of terrorism and called for concerted action against all terror groups including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen.

The Taliban asked the US and other countries on Saturday to recognise their government in Afghanistan, saying that a failure to do so and the continued freezing of Afghan funds abroad would lead to problems not only for the country but for the world.

Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi arrived in the Afghan capital on Thursday for talks with his Taliban counterpart, his office said, as the organisation seeks a path out of international isolation.

A US delegation will meet with senior Taliban representatives in Doha on Saturday and Sunday in their first face-to-face meeting at a senior level since Washington pulled its troops from Afghanistan, two senior administration officials told Reuters.

India and the US called on the Taliban to adhere to its commitments and respect the human rights of all Afghans and asked them to ensure that Afghan territory is never again used to threaten or attack any country or shelter or train terrorists.

A U.S.-trained Afghan pilot was talking to Reuters on a smuggled cellphone from Tajikistan, where he is being held, when something strange happened - his voice started looping, repeating everything he had just said, word for word.

An Afghan delegation will attend the upcoming UN climate change summit in Azerbaijan, the foreign ministry spokesman told AFP on Saturday, marking a first since the Taliban government came to power.

Restrictions on women's rights continue to prevent Afghanistan's "reintegration" into the international community, a senior UN official said Friday, noting the Taliban's participation in upcoming talks in Doha is not legitimization of the isolated go

A group of senior American diplomats met representatives from the Taliban and technocratic professionals during which they discussed critical issues concerning Afghanistan's well-being and humanitarian crisis, the State Department said.

United States Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West rejected the need for any third party to negotiate with the Taliban government. "I and my other colleagues in the US government are working on it," he said.

The United States and the Taliban plan talks Thursday in Qatar on unlocking some of Afghanistan's reserves following a devastating earthquake, officials said, with Washington seeking ways to ensure the money goes to help the population.

Afghan Taliban and Pakistani officials will hold a meeting on Monday in Afghanistan's Torkham over trade flows and people's movement across the Durand Line, according to local media.

Talks in Oslo Sunday between the Taliban and Afghan civil society members served as an "icebreaker", on the eve of their meeting with Western diplomats to discuss human rights and the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, an Afghan participant said.

A Taliban delegation arrived Saturday in Norway for three days of talks with Western diplomats and members of Afghan civil society, which it hopes will help "transform the atmosphere of war" in Afghanistan.

The Taliban's foreign minister said Monday he held talks in Iran on the weekend with Ahmad Massoud, son of the late legendary Afghan resistance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, and guaranteed his security if he returned home.

India and France have underlined the need to ensure that Afghan territory does not become a source of terrorism and called for concerted action against all terror groups including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen.

The Taliban asked the US and other countries on Saturday to recognise their government in Afghanistan, saying that a failure to do so and the continued freezing of Afghan funds abroad would lead to problems not only for the country but for the world.

Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi arrived in the Afghan capital on Thursday for talks with his Taliban counterpart, his office said, as the organisation seeks a path out of international isolation.

A US delegation will meet with senior Taliban representatives in Doha on Saturday and Sunday in their first face-to-face meeting at a senior level since Washington pulled its troops from Afghanistan, two senior administration officials told Reuters.

India and the US called on the Taliban to adhere to its commitments and respect the human rights of all Afghans and asked them to ensure that Afghan territory is never again used to threaten or attack any country or shelter or train terrorists.

A U.S.-trained Afghan pilot was talking to Reuters on a smuggled cellphone from Tajikistan, where he is being held, when something strange happened - his voice started looping, repeating everything he had just said, word for word.