The Qataris now find themselves as virtually the middlemen between the US and the Taliban, possibly expected by both sides to carry their good offices to the next stage.
A meeting in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar between the Qatari Prime Minister and Haibatullah Akhunzada is the first the Taliban chief is known to have held with a foreign leader.
Tensions have risen recently between the Taliban and Iran over the shared Helmand River.
Iran's semi-official Nour News confirmed the death of one Iranian border guard.
In a letter to Blinken dated Friday and released on Monday, Representative Michael McCaul said information that has been provided about a "dissent channel" cable sent in July 2021
The UN has some 3,300 Afghan staff, of whom about 400 are female, while about 600 international staff in the country are not affected by the ban.
"We will never be silent in the face of unprecedented systemic attacks on women's and girls' rights," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said
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