Chargé d’Affaires of the US Embassy for Kabul, Karen Decker, said Thursday she met with a Taliban delegation in Doha, Qatar, for talks on counter-narcotics efforts in Afghanistan among other issues.
Decker said in a series of posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the two sides discussed “eradication, interdiction, addiction treatment, and alternative livelihoods” relating to the cultivation of poppies and the production of drugs.
The US diplomat added that the fight against narcotics was a “mutual concern” in support of the people of Afghanistan.
“Invaluable to hear in advance the recommendations of Afghan experts inside/outside Afghanistan on how the international community can help and how critical the role of Afghan women is in all aspects of the counter-narcotics effort — we will not succeed without them,” she said.
Decker also stressed that narcotics have long been a humanitarian and economic catastrophe for people in Afghanistan and around the world.
“We look forward to working with the UN and other stakeholders to support the Afghan people’s aspiration of eliminating the scourge of illegal drugs once and for all,” she said.
Suhail Shaheen, the head of the Taliban’s political office in Doha, also posted to X and said he had held “constructive separate meetings” with UNODC representatives as well as a US technical team in Doha.
He said the Taliban’s delegation had presented “facts and figures about the unprecedented progress made by IEA (Taliban) in its efforts against poppy cultivation, drug trafficking and treatment of addicts.”
He also stated that UN monitoring teams and the international community were welcome to visit areas in Afghanistan where poppy cultivation has been eradicated.
“However, there is dire need for alternative projects of livelihood for farmers in Afghanistan whose poppy fields have been cleared,” he said.
Meanwhile, US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Thomas West also held talks with Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, about the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.
West said that Washington remains the leading donor of humanitarian assistance to meet the vital needs of people in Afghanistan. “Grateful to our implementing partners for delivering consistent with global principles,” he said.
