US officials hold first meeting with IEA delegation in Qatar since late July

The US officials met in-person with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) officials on Saturday for the first time since the US claimed it had killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in late July, CNN reported quoting two officials familiar with the talks.

According to CNN, the Biden administration sent the CIA’s deputy director and the top State Department official responsible for Afghanistan to the Qatari capital of Doha for the talks with the IEA’s delegation which included their head of intelligence, Abdul Haq Wasiq.

However, since the US drone strike on the Shirpur area of ​​Kabul, there has been no dialogue between the US officials and the Islamic Emirate.

Since then, the US has continued to engage with the new government of Afghanistan, including negotiating the release of US citizen Mark Frerichs. But senior officials had not met face-to-face since a few days before July 31.

The focus of these discussions has been the fight against terrorism.

In the meantime, the IEA officials have repeatedly rejected the presence of any terrorist group in Afghanistan, saying that Afghanistan was not a threat to other countries.

In addition, the Islamic Emirate spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid once again rejected the killing of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri by the US.

“The killing of al Qaeda leader is still a claim and we have not yet reached a result over the case,” Mujahid added. “It must be investigated seriously and Inshallah we will share the details once it is done.”

Political experts meanwhile have said that the new government of Afghanistan should have an impartial diplomacy with the US.

“Afghanistan should have a strategic tie with the US, as well as an impartial diplomacy towards the powerful nations in the region,” said Hatif Mukhtar, a political analyst. “It will benefit the national interest of Afghanistan”