(Washington) The United States and the Taliban, in power in Afghanistan, continued their discussions in Doha this week on the release of aid after a recent deadly earthquake, the US State Department said on Friday.
Posted at 8:59 p.m.
The Taliban are looking for a way to release part of the Afghan reserves deposited abroad – frozen by the United States – following the earthquake. Washington wants to ensure that these funds are used for humanitarian purposes.
During the meetings on Wednesday and Thursday, the United States reiterated an earlier pledge of $55 million in new earthquake relief assistance, the State Department said in a statement.
And “the two parties discussed in detail US actions aimed at preserving $3.5 billion in Afghan central bank reserves for the benefit of the Afghan people,” according to the text.
The United States, whose delegation was led by Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West, also expressed “concerns about increased Taliban interference in the delivery of humanitarian aid” and “transparency in the provision of services”.
After the Taliban took power in August 2021, Washington seized seven billion dollars in Afghan central bank reserves deposited in the United States in February.
Joe Biden wanted half of this sum to be reserved for the compensation of the families of victims of the attacks of September 11, 2001 in the United States and the other half for humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, but paid in such a way as to that the money does not fall into the hands of the Taliban.
However, the country, already affected by a severe economic crisis, was hit by an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 in the east of the country, killing more than 1,000 people.
The United States also said during the discussions that it supports “the demands of the Afghan people for girls to be allowed to return to school and for women to be allowed to work, to contribute to the country’s economic growth, to move and to express themselves freely,” the statement said.
However, US Special Envoy for Afghan Women’s Rights Rina Amiri tweeted that she declined to attend the talks.
Although she said she supported raising issues with the Taliban to improve the lives of Afghans, she said she was “seriously concerned about the actions […] of the Taliban in the areas my office oversees and disappointed that strong international engagement at this stage has not produced meaningful results for Afghan women, girls and at-risk populations”.