Taliban, US Hold First Official Talks Since Afghanistan Takeover

Facts

• Taliban leaders and US officials wrapped up a two-day meeting in Qatar on Monday for the first time since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan two years ago.¹
• The US State Department said that officials had told Afghanistan's Taliban during the talks that Washington was open to "technical dialogue" regarding the economy and "counternarcotics."²
• According to Kabul, Taliban officials focused on the lifting of travel restrictions and other sanctions on the group's leaders and the return of central bank assets held abroad in their discussions.²
• The two delegations also reportedly exchanged views on the present situation in Afghanistan, with US representatives voicing "grave concern regarding detentions, media crackdowns, and limits on religious practice."³
• In 2021, when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, the US froze around $7B of the war-torn country's central bank assets held in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Half of those funds are now in a Swiss-based Afghan Fund. Afghanistan is in desperate need of currency as 23M people depend on assistance from the World Food Programme for their survival.¹
• No country officially recognizes the Taliban administration, but they're effectively in control over the entire country.⁴

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²Reuters, ³Apa.az, and ⁴BBC News.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by VOA. These talks don't represent a change in US policy of any kind but rather an attempt to address the egregious human rights abuses committed by the fundamentalist de facto rulers as well as the recent marginalization of Afghan women and girls. It's in the US' best interest to engage with the Taliban appropriately to solve these issues.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Al Jazeera. Afghanistan is in a terrible situation, facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, so talks are necessary if the situation is to improve, as the main driver of this suffering has been the sanctions and banking restrictions imposed by the US. Given that the Taliban has succeeded in halting violence and preventing another destructive civil war, it's about time for the international community to change its approach.

Predictions