UN meeting on Afghanistan kicks off in Qatar

By Ibrahim Khazen and Gulsen Topcu

DOHA, Qatar (AA) - The UN announced Sunday that a meeting focusing on Afghanistan kicked off in Qatar’s capital, Doha.

In a statement, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was attended by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres but did not include any representatives from the Taliban administration in the Afghan capital Kabul.

The Afghan government declined to attend the meeting, Al Jazeera reported.

The meeting marked the first international gathering that the Taliban has refused to attend since returning to power in August 2021.

On Jan. 25, Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs Mawlawi Abdul Kabir announced that they had been invited to the UN meeting on Afghanistan scheduled for Feb. 18-19 in Doha.

The Taliban was not invited to the first UN meeting on Afghanistan in Doha in May 2023.