UN Chief to Explore Appointment of Envoy to Engage Taliban with International Community

Doha, MINA – The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is to begin consultations on the appointment of a UN envoy to coordinate engagement between Afghanistan’s Taliban government and the international community.

Guterres told a press conference as quoted by Middle East Monitor on Monday, that Taliban representatives did not accept an invitation to a meeting of international envoys to Afghanistan that he convened in Doha on Sunday and Monday.

He added that he hoped Taliban officials would attend the next such meeting.

The Taliban took control of Kabul again in August 2021 when US troops left the country, marking the end of a twenty-year war and occupation of Afghanistan.

The government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is now run by the Taliban, but is not recognised by any country, although Taliban officials met and signed a deal with US officials in Qatar, in 2020, which led to the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan the following year. (T/RE1/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)