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US says Doha talks with IEA were “candid and professional”
The United States said late Sunday that the talks with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) in Doha, Qatar, had been “candid and professional” and focused on security, terrorism and other key issues.
According to a statement issued by the US State Department spokesman Ned Price: “The US delegation focused on security and terrorism concerns and safe passage for US citizens, other foreign nationals, and our Afghan partners.”
He said the delegates also focused on human rights, including the meaningful participation of women and girls in all aspects of Afghan society.
“The two sides also discussed the United States’ provision of robust humanitarian assistance, directly to the Afghan people. The discussions were candid and professional with the U.S. delegation reiterating that the Taliban (IEA) will be judged on its actions, not only its words,” he said.
Price said the two-day talks involved an “interagency delegation” from the United States and “senior Taliban (IEA) representatives.”
They were the first face-to-face talks between the two sides since the IEA seized control of Afghanistan in August following the withdrawal of Western troops.
The also said it will provide urgent humanitarian aid to a desperately poor Afghanistan on the brink of an economic disaster, but refused to give political recognition to the country’s new IEA rulers.
IEA political spokesman Suhail Shaheen told The Associated Press that Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, assured the US during the talks that the IEA is committed to seeing that Afghan soil is not used by extremists to launch attacks against other countries.
“We are able to tackle Daesh independently,” Shaheen said when asked whether the IEA would work with the US to contain the Islamic State (ISIS-K) affiliate.
Bill Roggio, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who tracks militant groups, agreed the IEA does not need Washington’s help to hunt down and destroy Afghanistan’s Daesh.
The IEA “fought 20 years to eject the US, and the last thing it needs is the return of the US. It also doesn’t need US help,” said Roggio, who also produces the foundation’s Long War Journal.
“The Taliban (IEA) has to conduct the difficult and time-consuming task of rooting out ISKP (Daesh) cells and its limited infrastructure. It has all the knowledge and tools it needs to do it.”
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Four members of one family killed in Helmand in Pakistan airstrike
The family, originally from Ghazni province, reportedly operated a small restaurant in the area.
Four members of a family were killed and seven others wounded in an airstrike in Safar area of Garmser district in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, according to local reports.
The family, originally from Ghazni province, reportedly operated a small restaurant in the area.
The bodies of those killed and the wounded were transported by helicopter to Ghazni province for burial and medical treatment, according to the reports.
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UNAMA acting chief visits Islam Qala border to assess support for returnees
UN launched a $529 million response plan aimed at assisting around 2.7 million Afghans expected to return from Iran and Pakistan between April and December 2026.
Georgette Gagnon, UNAMA’s acting head, visited western Afghanistan, including the Islam Qala border crossing, to see firsthand UN efforts to support millions of Afghans returning from neighboring Iran and Pakistan.
Earlier this year, the UN launched a $529 million response plan aimed at assisting around 2.7 million Afghans expected to return from Iran and Pakistan between April and December 2026.
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Trump: Unlike Afghanistan, US took all equipment from Iraq
Trump said the withdrawal from Iraq marked the end of what he described as a costly military involvement, adding that he had set a clear mission and instructed commanders to complete it without allowing the US presence to become permanent.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday compared the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq with the 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying military equipment had been left behind in Afghanistan, while US forces leaving Iraq took their equipment with them.
Speaking at a White House event, Trump referred to the final departure of US-led coalition forces and equipment from Erbil Air Base in northern Iraq, which marked the end of the US military mission against Daesh in Iraq.
“I said, take a little longer. Take everyone. We left all of the equipment, if you remember, in Afghanistan. Everything was left behind,” Trump said.
“I said, ‘I want every screw taken. If there’s a screw lying on the ground, take it. If we have a canvas tent, take it.’ We took everything,” he added.
He also mentioned the August 2021 attack at Kabul airport that killed 13 US soldiers.
Trump said he had become acquainted with the families of the US service members killed in the attack and also highlighted those who were seriously wounded.
“What happened to those—to their children should never have been allowed to happen,” he said, adding that 48 wounded service members were severely injured and “never get mentioned.”
Trump said the withdrawal from Iraq marked the end of what he described as a costly military involvement, adding that he had set a clear mission and instructed commanders to complete it without allowing the US presence to become permanent.
The US military announced on Wednesday that its forces and equipment had completed an orderly departure from Erbil Air Base, formally ending Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq. The US-led mission began in 2014 to fight Daesh after the group seized large areas of Iraq and Syria. The US is continuing its counter-Daesh mission in Syria from a headquarters in Jordan.
Trump said the US had entered Iraq to fight the Islamic State and that the group no longer controlled a territorial “caliphate.”
“We came to fight a caliphate, and there is no longer a caliphate, so we are going home indeed,” he said.
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