The United States envoy on Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, “will press the Taliban to stop their military offensive” at talks in Qatar’s capital this week, the Department of State announced after the armed group seized a string of Afghan provincial capitals.
The department said in a statement on Monday that several planned rounds of meetings were scheduled over three days to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.
Ambassador Khalilzad will be in Doha to help formulate a joint international response to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan,” the department added.
Attending the meetings will be governmental and organisational representatives from the region and beyond, who “will press for a reduction of violence and ceasefire and a commitment not to recognize a government imposed by force”, the statement continued.
On Monday, the Taliban announced that it had captured a sixth provincial capital in Afghanistan in four days.
