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Qatar calls on Washington and the Taliban to preserve the Doha Accord

August 3, 2022 at 2:00 pm

Fighters of the Taliban Badri 313 military unit stand guard as passengers on board a Qatar Airways in Kabul on 14 September 2021 [KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images]

The State of Qatar has stressed the need for Afghanistan not to be a haven for extremist terrorist individuals and organisations, calling on the US and the Taliban to “maintain the gains of the Doha Accord”.

This came in a statement issued by the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday evening, Tuesday, hours after the US announced the killing of Al-Qaeda leader, Ayman Al-Zawahiri in a raid carried out by its forces, last Saturday, in Afghanistan.

The Qatari Foreign Ministry said, “Qatar is following the developments in Afghanistan, and calls on all parties to maintain the gains of the Doha Agreement and adhere to it.”

It noted that the most important gains of the Doha Accords are that “Afghanistan should not be a haven for terrorist and extremist individuals and organisation.”

It reiterated Qatar’s firm and supportive stance for regional and international efforts to combat terrorism and its financing, and everything that would enhance international peace and security.

On Tuesday night, US President Joe Biden announced the killing of Al-Qaeda leader, Ayman Al-Zawahiri in a US raid carried out Saturday in Afghanistan.

In a televised speech, Biden said that US intelligence had located Al-Zawahiri earlier this year and, with his death, “justice has been delivered”.

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Al-Zawahiri took over the leadership of Al-Qaeda after the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011, with Washington allocating a $25 million reward for information on him.

On the other hand, Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, condemned the US attack on the capital, Kabul.

Mujahid said, in a tweet yesterday, Tuesday, that the attack, which targeted a house in the Sharbour neighbourhood in the centre of Kabul, was carried out by US drones.

Mujahid considered that the US attack on Afghanistan a violation of international principles and the Doha Accords signed with the US.

In 2020, the US and the Taliban signed an agreement under the auspices of Qatar in the capital, Doha, stipulating the exit of foreign forces from Afghanistan, which was achieved in August last year.