US says to hold first in-person talks with Taliban since Afghan withdrawalTaliban fighters working as a police force stand guard next to a Humvee vehicle at the entrance gate of a police district in Kabul on October 3, 2021WASHINGTON - The United States and the Taliban will hold their first in-person talks since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan starting Saturday, the State Department said. The US delegation will meet Saturday and Sunday in the Qatari capital Doha with senior Taliban representatives, a State Department spokesperson said. The State Department stressed that the meeting did not indicate that the United States was recognizing Taliban rule in Afghanistan. The United States says that the Taliban have largely cooperated on letting out US citizens. Senior US officials including Central Command chief General Frank McKenzie met with the Taliban in Kabul in August as US troops took over the airport for the airlift.
