US Chargé d’Affaires Karen Decker met with Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) officials in Doha on Wednesday for talks on counter-narcotic measures.

In a series of posts on X, Decker said: “Colleagues and I met a working-level Taliban (IEA) delegation yesterday in Doha for technical talks on counter-narcotics, an area of mutual concern in support of the Afghan people. We discussed eradication, interdiction, addiction treatment, and alternative livelihoods.

“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 narcotics have long been a humanitarian and economic catastrophe for the Afghan people and 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 added.

In turn, Suhail Shaheen, the IEA’s envoy to Qatar, also posted to X and said an anti-narcotics team from Kabul, including Janan Azizi, country director of the IEA’s anti-narcotic department; Rahman Qasimi, assistant to the deputy-minister of interior for anti-narcotic affairs; and Mirwais Qaderi from security and borders affairs department of IEA’s foreign ministry, attended the meeting.

They detailed efforts being made against poppy cultivation, drug trafficking and treatment of addicts. “We welcome the UN monitoring team and the international community to visit areas in Afghanistan where poppy cultivation has been eradicated.

“However, there is a dire need for alternative livelihood projects for farmers in Afghanistan whose poppy fields have been cleared,” he said.