The Taliban regime on Monday said it won’t allow any country, including Pakistan, to interfere in Afghanistan’s internal affairs even as it confirmed that ISI chief Faiz Hameed recently met the group’s de facto leader Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul.
Questions of interference were raised after Pakistan’s intelligence chief visited the Afghan capital on an unannounced visit last week.
Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said the group will not allow any government, including Islamabad, to meddle in internal affairs, the country’s Khaama news outlet reported.
Hameed was the first high-profile foreign official to visit Afghanistan since mid-August. During a press meet in Kabul on Monday, Mujahid confirmed that the ISI chief had met with Baradar during his visit to Kabul, BBC Urdu reported. The Taliban also reportedly assured Islamabad that Afghan territory will not be used against Pakistan.
1,000 await airlift nod in Mazar-i-Sharif: Reports
About 1,000 people, including Americans, have been stuck in Afghanistan for days awaiting clearance for their charter flights to leave, an organiser told Reuters, blaming the delay on the US state department.
Exasperated by the delays, the organiser said the US state department had failed to tell the Taliban of its approval for flight departures from the airport in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif or validate a landing site. “They need to be held accountable for putting these people’s lives in danger,” said the organiser. Reuters could not independently verify the details of the account.
{{/usCountry}}Exasperated by the delays, the organiser said the US state department had failed to tell the Taliban of its approval for flight departures from the airport in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif or validate a landing site. “They need to be held accountable for putting these people’s lives in danger,” said the organiser. Reuters could not independently verify the details of the account.
{{/usCountry}}Blinken lands in Doha for crisis talks with Qatar
US secretary of state Antony Blinken arrived in Doha on Monday, an AFP correspondent saw, ahead of crisis talks with the Qataris. Blinken, accompanied by US defence secretary Lloyd Austin, is the most senior US official to visit the region since the Taliban’s lightning takeover of Afghanistan on August 15.
“We are thankful for Qatar’s close collaboration on Afghanistan and its indispensable support in facilitating the transit of US citizens, Kabul embassy personnel, at-risk Afghans, and other evacuees through Qatar,” the state department said before Blinken’s arrival in Doha.