Taliban "We Want to Open a New Era of Bilateral Relations with the Trump Administration"

Reminder of the US Troop Withdrawal 'Doha Agreement'
Taliban Government's Strategy to Gain Official Recognition

The Islamic extremist armed group Taliban government, which effectively controls Afghanistan, expressed hope that a new horizon in relations with the United States would open following the election of former President Donald Trump.

According to AFP and other sources on the 7th (local time), Abdul Kahar Balkhi, spokesperson for the Taliban government's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, posted on X (formerly Twitter) the day before, "We hope that the (Trump administration) will take concrete steps to advance bilateral relations and that the two countries can open a new chapter in their relationship," recalling the Doha Agreement made between the Taliban and the United States during Trump's first term.

· AFP Yonhap News

Previously, during Trump's first term, the administration signed an agreement with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, in February 2020, excluding the Afghan government, paving the way for the withdrawal of U.S. troops who had been stationed in Afghanistan for 20 years. Subsequently, President Joe Biden, who took office, proceeded with the withdrawal without establishing a ceasefire agreement between the Taliban and the Afghan government, leading to tragic consequences such as the Kabul airport bombing that killed 13 U.S. soldiers.

Spokesperson Balkhi's recent remarks are interpreted as a desire for a second Trump administration to officially recognize the Taliban as the de facto government of Afghanistan, thereby allowing the Taliban to expand its diplomatic standing.

The Taliban, which first ruled for five years starting in 1996, reestablished itself as the de facto ruler of Afghanistan immediately after the U.S. troop withdrawal but has not received official government recognition from the international community due to issues such as the suppression of women's rights.

In Afghanistan, there were also differing opinions regarding former President Trump's election. Fawzia Koofi, a former member of the Afghan parliament, congratulated Trump on his election but criticized him by saying, "As a businessman, he must realize that a country that denies half its population (women) the right to work and receive education can never prosper in the long term." She pointed out that Trump was the one who initially decided on the U.S. troop withdrawal and criticized his failure to address the Taliban government's suppression of women's rights after the withdrawal.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.