Taliban Talks

Taliban authorities were told women must be included in public life, UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo said on Monday as she defended a decision to sideline civil society groups at official talks in Doha.

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

The Taliban government has entered its first talks with the United Nations, donors and non-governmental organisations over the impact of climate change in Afghanistan, organisers said Wednesday.

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.

The Taliban will be absent from UN-led talks that open Monday in Qatar on how to handle Afghanistan's rulers and press them to ease a ban on women working and girls going to school.

A senior Pakistani police official in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where Monday's blast took place told AFP the Kabul delegation would hold "talks with the top brass".

Ashraf Ghani, the former Afghanistan President who fled the country when the Taliban grabbed power in Kabul, was "a total fraud" solely focused on his own desire to stay in power and a big hurdle in any peace talks,

The Taliban on Tuesday asked Pakistan to "avoid baseless talks and provocative ideas", two days after Pakistan interior minister Rana Sanaullah's said the country will target Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) hideouts inside Afghanistan.

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.

The Centre has sent a team of foreign ministry officials to Afghanistan's capital of Kabul for talks with senior members of the ruling Taliban, the ministry said on Thursday, the first such meeting since the chaotic USwithdrawal last year.

The United States abruptly cancelled meetings with the Taliban in Doha that were set to address key economic issues, officials said on Friday, after Afghanistan's Islamist rulers reversed a decision to allow all girls to return to high school classes

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.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershnin, after Monday's consultations on UNSC issues between him and Reenat Sandhu, Secretary West in the Ministry of External Affairs, said 'it is premature to talk about recognizing the current government'.

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.

Taliban authorities were told women must be included in public life, UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo said on Monday as she defended a decision to sideline civil society groups at official talks in Doha.

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

The Taliban government has entered its first talks with the United Nations, donors and non-governmental organisations over the impact of climate change in Afghanistan, organisers said Wednesday.

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.

The Taliban will be absent from UN-led talks that open Monday in Qatar on how to handle Afghanistan's rulers and press them to ease a ban on women working and girls going to school.

A senior Pakistani police official in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where Monday's blast took place told AFP the Kabul delegation would hold "talks with the top brass".

Ashraf Ghani, the former Afghanistan President who fled the country when the Taliban grabbed power in Kabul, was "a total fraud" solely focused on his own desire to stay in power and a big hurdle in any peace talks,

The Taliban on Tuesday asked Pakistan to "avoid baseless talks and provocative ideas", two days after Pakistan interior minister Rana Sanaullah's said the country will target Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) hideouts inside Afghanistan.

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.

The Centre has sent a team of foreign ministry officials to Afghanistan's capital of Kabul for talks with senior members of the ruling Taliban, the ministry said on Thursday, the first such meeting since the chaotic USwithdrawal last year.

The United States abruptly cancelled meetings with the Taliban in Doha that were set to address key economic issues, officials said on Friday, after Afghanistan's Islamist rulers reversed a decision to allow all girls to return to high school classes

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.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershnin, after Monday's consultations on UNSC issues between him and Reenat Sandhu, Secretary West in the Ministry of External Affairs, said 'it is premature to talk about recognizing the current government'.

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.