United States officials have described the first talks with Taliban leaders since the withdrawal of American troops in August as ‘candid and professional’.
The meeting between the two sides, in Doha, focused on containing extremist groups, the evacuation of US citizens and humanitarian aid, according to the BBC.
US officials said the group would be judged by its actions, but acknowledged that the talks had been ‘candid and professional’.
The US insisted the meeting did not amount to recognition of the Taliban.
The Taliban said in a statement that the US had agreed to begin to provide humanitarian aid to the country.
‘US representatives stated that they will give humanitarian assistance to Afghans and will provide facilities for other humanitarian organisations to deliver aid,’ the Taliban said, adding that it would ‘cooperate with charitable groups in delivering the humanitarian assistance to those deserving transparently, and will facilitate the principled movement of foreign nationals’.
The BBC said this had yet to be formally confirmed by the US.
US spokesperson Ned Price said that the two sides had discussed the provision ‘of robust humanitarian assistance, directly to the Afghan people’.
He added: ‘The US delegation focused on security and terrorism concerns and safe passage for US citizens, other foreign nationals and our Afghan partners, as well as human rights, including the meaningful participation of women and girls in all aspects of Afghan society.’
The BBC reported that the Taliban ruled out cooperation with Washington on tackling the activities of the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISIS-K).
However, the Taliban’s spokesperson in Qatar, Suhail Shaheen, told the Associated Press that the regime is ‘able to tackle Daesh independently’.
Shaheen’s comments followed an ISIS-K suicide bomb attack on a minority Shia mosque in the northern city of Kunduz on Friday, killing at least 50 people, the deadliest attack since US troops left the country.