Taliban Delegation in Qatar; Women Are the Main Absentees at the Two-Day Doha Meeting

A Taliban delegation participated in a meeting under the auspices of the United Nations in Qatar on Sunday, focusing on Afghanistan. Women are notably absent from this two-day meeting in Doha, the capital of Qatar, which has previously hosted two other UN-led meetings on Afghanistan. Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Taliban and head of the group's delegation, wrote on X media that he met with representatives from Russia, India, and Uzbekistan on the sidelines of the meeting. The Taliban were not invited to the first UN-led meeting. Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, stated that the Taliban had presented 'unacceptable' conditions for participating in the second meeting in February of this year, including sidelining members of Afghan civil society and recognizing the Islamist group as the 'legitimate rulers' of Afghanistan. Zabihullah Mujahid also mentioned on Saturday in Kabul that his delegation is going to Doha to 'find understanding and resolve issues.' He added that discussions would focus on international sanctions imposed on Afghanistan's financial and banking system, challenges hindering the growth of the private sector, and the Taliban's actions against drug trafficking. Earlier this month, Roza Otunbayeva, a senior UN official on Afghanistan, stated that women's rights issues would be raised at the third meeting hosted by Qatar. The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, coinciding with the withdrawal of US and NATO forces from the country. No country in the world has recognized the Taliban as the official government of Afghanistan, and the UN has stated that such recognition is impossible as long as the ban on women's education and work in Afghanistan continues. A group of Afghan and Iranian female athletes gathered in Paris against gender discrimination in Afghanistan and Iran. The United Nations reported that anti-Taliban attacks in Afghanistan have increased over the past three months. The UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan emphasized that the voices and rights of women should be prominent at the Doha meeting with the Taliban. A senior Taliban official's visit to the UAE; Sirajuddin Haqqani is on the list of individuals wanted by the US.