In February last year, under the former Donald Trump administration, the US and the Taliban signed an agreement in Doha that set 1 May 2021 as the deadline for the complete withdrawal of foreign forces.

The US said it would go ahead with the withdrawal if the Taliban halted its support for terrorist organisations.

However, President Biden changed the deadline to 11 September this year – before it was later revised to 31 August – without conditions.

Now with the Taliban in power, there are questions regarding the group’s international legitimacy as the country continues to face worsening economic and humanitarian crises.

In the latest talks between the group and Washington, Muttaqi said his delegation asked the US to lift its ban on the reserves of Afghanistan’s central bank and said the US would offer Afghans Covid-19 vaccines.

Speaking to Doha News in August, Taliban’s spokesman in Qatar Suhail Shaheen said that the new government wants to have “good relations with all countries” on the basis of “mutual respect and mutual interest”.

Shaheen said that the group was also willing to hold talks with the Joe Biden administration.

Qatar has been playing a key diplomatic role over the past years, facilitating direct talks between the US, Taliban and former Afghan government. It also hosted the intra-Afghan talks in September last year.

On Friday, the Taliban delegation arrived in Doha for its first foreign visit since the formation of the interim administration. The group is also expected to meet representatives from the European Union.

Responding to questions regarding the international recognition of the Taliban over the past month, diplomats said it is not their current priority and stressed the need to focus on addressing the humanitarian crisis in the country instead.

Last week, Qatar’s Assistant Foreign Minister Lolwah Al Khater said that holding dialogue with the Taliban does not require recognition of the group.

She also said there is an urgent need for the international community to place a clear road map to formally specify the exact outcomes needed from the Taliban.

Doha has been at the forefront of evacuations since the Taliban took over Kabul on 15 August, rushing to evacuate over 50,000 Afghans and foreigners from Afghanistan in the world’s largest airlift of people in history.

The country helped house Afghan students, including the all-girls robotics team, known as the “Afghan Dreamers”.

More recently, the country announced plans to relocate the American University of Afghanistan’s campuses to Qatar, where students will continue to pursue their education under a safe environment.

Attack in Kunduz

Meanwhile, Qatar strongly condemned the targeted attack of a mosque in the Shia-majority city of Kunduz, where at least 62 people were killed.

The Gulf state’s foreign ministry reiterated its position in “rejecting violence and terrorism regardless of the motives or reasons” while rejecting “targeting places of worship and terrorising civilians”.

The attack, claimed by ISIS-K, was one of the bloodiest to take place in the country since the US withdrawal on 31 August.

The IS-affiliate, also the Taliban’s rival, has repeatedly targeted Shias in Afghanistan and carried out the bloody attack during Friday prayers. Shias make up about 20% of the Afghan population.