Oslo: On its first visit to Europe since returning to power, the Taliban held historic talks with Western diplomats on Monday over the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, where more than half the population is at risk of starvation.
However, the international community has insisted that the Taliban must respect human rights before resuming aid to Afghanistan. After accepting a controversial invitation from Norway, the Taliban were in talks with representatives from the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Italy, the European Union and Norway.
A closed-door discussion was held with the Taliban delegation led by Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaki at the Soria Moria Hotel on a snowy hill outside Oslo. The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has worsened since last August when hardliners returned to power after 20 years in power.
Norway's Foreign Minister Aniken Huitfeld has stressed that the talks "will not represent the legitimacy or recognition of the Taliban", but because of the humanitarian emergency "we must speak to the real authorities in the country".
Many experts and members of the Afghan diaspora have criticized the Norwegian invitation to the Taliban, and there have been several protests outside the foreign ministry in the capital. In Kabul, Wahida Amiri, an activist who has regularly protested in Kabul since the Taliban's withdrawal, told AFP she was "sorry for a country like Norway for organizing this summit, sitting with terrorists and making deals." Is".
"It hurts me very much. Shame on the world for admitting this and opening doors for the Taliban," she told AFP. "Norway has invited criminals and terrorists who have no respect for women's rights and human rights," a Bamiyan activist told AFP.
"They (the Taliban) are against women and humanity and they do not believe in freedom of expression." Before meeting with the Taliban, Western diplomats held talks with members of Afghanistan's civil society early Monday, including women activists and journalists who had held talks with hardline Islamists on human rights a day earlier.
Women's rights activist Jameela Afghani, one of the attendees, told AFP it was "a positive ice-breaking meeting" where the Taliban "showed goodwill", but it remained to be seen "what their action would be".
Mehbooba Seraj, another female activist who attended Oslo on Monday, said the Taliban "accepted us and they listened to us". "I am hopeful. I am hoping for some kind of understanding about each other," she told reporters. Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted after their talks that "participants recognize that understanding and joint cooperation is the only solution".
Among the 15 members of the all-male Taliban delegation was Anas Haqqani, the leader of the most feared and violent faction of the Taliban movement the Haqqani network blamed for some of the most devastating attacks in Afghanistan.