Qatar urges Taliban to cease fire at meeting in Doha

DUBAI (Reuters) – Qatar said it had urged the Taliban to cease fire and pull back their offensive in Afghanistan during a meeting between the Qatari foreign minister and a top representative of the Afghan insurgents in Doha on Saturday.

Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani met the head of the Taliban’s political bureau, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, to follow up on peace talks hosted by the Gulf country, the Qatari foreign ministry said in a statement on its website.

“The foreign minister urged the Taliban at the meeting to let up the escalation and to cease fire,” it said. 

Envoys from the United States, China, Pakistan, the United Nations, the European Union and others met Taliban representatives and Afghan government officials on Thursday in Doha.

The statement issued following that meeting reaffirmed that foreign capitals would not recognise any government in Afghanistan “imposed through the use of military force”.

(Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Alison Williams)