Representatives of Taliban and the US discussed details of Washington’s actions to preserve $3.5 billion in Afghanistan’s reserves for benefit of Afghan people and aid, says State Department as powerful earthquake killed over 1,000 people there
US and Taliban representatives in the Qatari capital Doha worked on details to preserve $3.5 billion in Afghan central bank reserves"for the benefit of the Afghan people."
The Taliban is seeking a way to unlock some of the country's foreign reserves — currently frozen by the United States — following a devastating earthquake last month, with the United States looking for assurances the money would go to help the population. Last week's 5.9-magnitude earthquake in eastern Afghanistan, which killed more than 1,000 people and left tens of thousands homeless, adds urgency to the funding debate.
According to the State Department, US representatives also pushed the Taliban authorities on women's rights — a sticking point that led Washington to cancel talks in Doha in March, when the group closed girls' secondary schools in Afghanistan.