U.S. officials met with Taliban again in July 2023

According to the statement of the US State Department, Thomas West, the country's special representative for Afghanistan, and Rina Amiri, the US special representative for Afghanistan's women's and human rights affairs, met the Taliban delegation at the end of July 2023.

After the reactionary statements of Rina Amiri, the special representative of the US for Afghan women, regarding interaction with the Taliban, recently Thomas West also supported her approach.

 

On Thursday, 3 August 2023, the US special representative published key points in a series of tweets, in which he pointed out America's support for the policy of engagement with the Taliban group.

 

On 1 July 2023 he posted on his Twitter account:

1/2 Concluded two days of mtgs with senior Taliban representatives & Afghan technocrats in Doha re: critical interests in Afghanistan. We discussed the country’s economic situation, human rights, humanitarian needs, security commitments, inclusivity, & counter-narcotics issues.

He continued in another post on the same day:

2/2 Dialogue was two-way, detailed, candid, and needs to continue, in support of the Afghan people and to protect interests.

On 2 August 2023 West posted on his Twitter account about an idea, which is absurd for whoever is familiar with the terrorist Taliban:

3/5 For Afghanistan to stand on its own two feet, women must be educated and contribute to economy. If change to policies is made, it will be because Afghans have asked for it, not a result of foreign requests.

 

It should be mentioned that the conversation of the American representatives with the Taliban delegation in Doha has fueled a wave of concerns and criticism of Washington's policies towards this terrorist group among Afghans. This meeting like the previous meetings were held against the will of Afghan opposition groups as well as non-Pashtun Afghan activists.

At the same time, Thomas West stated that the US has provided nearly two billion dollars to Afghanistan in the past two years and added: "Taliban policies make it very difficult for aid organizations to operate."

He also met "with colleagues from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan for the #C5PlusUS session on Afghanistan in Astana to discuss our joint support of the Afghan people."

Picture Source: https://twitter.com/US4AfghanPeace/status/1684567956062457856