As U.S. pressure on the Taliban continues to intensify, high-level meetings between Taliban officials and Qatari officials have also increased.
The Taliban recently announced that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the group’s Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, met with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, in Doha on Wednesday, February 13.
This meeting follows a series of high-profile visits, including a recent trip to Qatar by Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s Interior Minister and Intelligence Chief. However, details of Haqqani’s visit remain undisclosed.
For the past two decades, Qatar has played a key mediating role between the Taliban and the United States. The escalation of diplomatic engagements between the Taliban and Qatari officials comes at a time when Washington has intensified political and economic pressure on the Taliban. Additionally, officials in Donald Trump’s administration have adopted a strong anti-Taliban stance as U.S. foreign policy shifts under his leadership.
