US says to hold first in-person talks with Taliban since Afghan withdrawal

Taliban fighters working as a police force stand guard next to a Humvee vehicle at the entrance gate of a police district in Kabul on October 3, 2021

The United States and the Taliban will hold their first in-person talks since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan starting Saturday, the State Department said.

The US delegation will meet Saturday and Sunday in the Qatari capital Doha with senior Taliban representatives, a State Department spokesperson said.

"We will press the Taliban to respect the rights of all Afghans, including women and girls, and to form an inclusive government with broad support," the spokesperson said Friday.

The State Department stressed that the meeting did not indicate that the United States was recognizing Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

The US team will also press President Joe Biden's key priority of letting US citizens and Afghan allies during the 20-year military operation leave the country.

But the United States acknowledges that it was not able to get out most Afghan allies who wanted to leave during a hasty airlift that pulled tens of thousands of people out of Kabul before the withdrawal.

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Originally published as US says to hold first in-person talks with Taliban since Afghan withdrawal