Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that more than a year since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, there is no clarity “on the way forward” for the country and that is a growing concern for the international community.
Qatar has remained involved in Afghanistan’s situation after the start of the US-Taliban negotiations that led to the signing of an agreement between the two sides.
“We’ve been advising the international community that we need to arrange a blueprint for the way forward—what are the required series of conditions we need from the current leadership in Afghanistan, in exchange for what we can provide as an international community,” Sheikh Mohammed said as quoted in an interview with Doha News.
He added that Afghanistan would remain a concern in the absence of a clear roadmap for the country’s future.
“We have seen a growing humanitarian crisis over there, an economic crisis, as well as a growing concern on terrorism and terrorist organizations operating from there,” Qatar’s foreign minister said as quoted by Doha News.
Afghanistan has witnessed many deadly attacks over the past year, most of them claimed by Daesh, killing scores of Afghan civilians, including last month’s attacks on mosques in Kabul and Herat provinces.
Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in his speech during UN General Assembly on Tuesday said that abandoning Afghanistan would be counterproductive.
The Taliban and the US signed an agreement in Doha in 2020, agreeing on certain matters, including efforts for peace negotiations.
Commenting on the Doha deal, Sheikh Tamim called on all parties to preserve and build on the accord’s achievements.
“We have repeatedly stressed the need to protect civilians, respect human and citizen rights in Afghanistan, including women’s rights, girls’ right to education, and achieve national reconciliation among the factions of the Afghan people,” Amir Tamim said at UN.
