According to officials from both sides, senior Taliban leaders and United States (US) representatives will meet on Saturday and Sunday to discuss limiting extremist groups in Afghanistan and facilitating the evacuation of foreign nationals and Afghans.
According to a top Afghan official, the Taliban and Afghan officials would discuss how to combat the growing threat posed by Islamic State (IS) fanatics. In the bloodiest incident since the United States left, an IS suicide bomber murdered at least 46 minority Shiite Muslims and injured dozens more on October 8.
The US would try to compel Taliban officials to honor their promises to enable Americans and other foreigners to leave Afghanistan. Questions and complaints regarding the slow pace of evacuations from Taliban-ruled Afghanistan have been directed to the Biden administration. Since then, 105 US residents and 95 green card holders have fled, said the State Department spokesperson Ned Price. For more than a week, that number had remained unchanged.
Officials from the United States are pleading with the Taliban to allow humanitarian aid agencies access. They also plan to press the Taliban to respect the rights of women and girls. According to an official, the meeting did not mean that the US recognized the Taliban as legal authorities.