Taliban should be guided by what Afghans want

KABUL (TOLOnews): Karen Decker, Chargé d’Affaires of the US Mission to Afghanistan, urged the “Taliban” to be guided by what the Afghan people want, saying that the international community must also “listen to what the Afghan people say.”
In an interview with TOLOnews, on the sidelines of the Doha Forum, Decker said that Afghanistan is the only country in the world that “does not allow girls to go to school.”
She also said that the relationship to focus on is the relationship between the American and the Afghan people “which remains incredibly strong.”
Decker said the US is engaged with the “Taliban leaders on a range of issues in a very pragmatic way in order to talk to them about the issues like counter-narcotics, economic resilience and recovery as well as the release of Americans who are “wrongfully detained.”
She said that despite the closure of the embassy in Kabul, all activities of the US mission for Afghanistan are functioning.
“We do not have an embassy open in Kabul right now. I lead the embassy in exile based here in Qatar. But we still have all of the functions of an embassy,” she added, saying that a US team is also based in Kazakhstan.
“There is no checklist for recognition… I have already explained. That is not a process that has a list of requirements attached to it. We are going to continue to focus on helping the Afghan people. Part of that is supporting the Afghan women and girls on a range of issues,” Decker said. The US top diplomat for Afghanistan highlighted the situation of Afghan women.
“I think we have to be honest about the fact that Afghan women cannot work, Afghan girls cannot study and that is unacceptable,” she added.
Decker said that the US is in talks with Pakistani officials to make sure the Afghans have every protection available to them under the law and are treated with dignity and respect.