The Taliban on Saturday warned the United States not to ‘destabilise’ the regime during their first face-to-face talks since the US withdrawal.
This is coming even as a deadly sectarian bombing has now’ raised further questions about their grip on power.
As mourners in northern Afghanistan buried their dead from an attack on a Shiite mosque that killed 62, a Taliban delegation warned US officials in Doha that any weakening of their government could cause ‘problems for the people’.
Africa Daily News, New York had earlier reported that scores more worshippers were wounded in Friday’s blast in Kunduz, which was claimed by the Islamic State group — who appear to be attempting to further shake Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover.
‘We clearly told them that trying to destabilise the government in Afghanistan is good for no one,’ the Taliban’s foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told the Afghan state news agency Bakhtar after the talks in the Qatari capital.
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‘Good relations with Afghanistan are good for everyone. Nothing should be done to weaken the existing government in Afghanistan which can lead to problems for the people,’ he said.
The Taliban are seeking international recognition, as well as assistance to avoid a humanitarian disaster and ease Afghanistan’s economic crisis.
A State Department official said the US delegation would press the Taliban to ensure terrorists do not create a base for attacks in the country.
It would also pressure Afghanistan’s new rulers to form an inclusive government and to respect the rights of women and girls, the official said, stressing the meeting did not indicate Washington recognised Taliban rule.
‘We remain clear that any legitimacy must be earned through the Taliban’s own actions,’ the official further submitted.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
