US officials to meet Afghan Taliban

DOHA, July 27 (Reuters): US officials will meet Taliban representatives and "technocratic professionals" from Afghan ministries in Doha this week, the State Department said on Wednesday, adding they will discuss economic issues, security and women's rights.
No country has formally recognised the Taliban administration since the group returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021 when US-led foreign forces withdrew in chaos after a 20-year conflict.
Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West and Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls, and Human Rights Rina Amiri will meet a Taliban delegation in Doha to discuss humanitarian support for Afghanistan, security, women's rights, economic stabilisation, and efforts to counter narcotics production and trafficking, the State Department said.
The department's deputy spokesperson, Vedant Patel, reiterated US concerns about human rights abuses and the marginalisation of women and girls in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and said talks in the Qatari capital did not "mean any kind of indication of recognition or any kind of indication of normalisation or legitimacy of the Taliban."
"This does not indicate any change in the policy of the United States. We have been very clear that we will engage with the Taliban appropriately when it is in our interest to do so," Patel said.
A Taliban foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement that acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi would lead the delegation.