US Republican Lawmakers Meet Afghan Politicians in Turkey

He reiterated that the people of Afghanistan should be allowed to take control of their own destiny.

The former US national security adviser emphasised that the resistance against the Taliban has been taking momentum and it should be taken seriously.

According to Bolton, the people of Afghanistan did not choose the Taliban, but this group’s rule has been imposed on them.

In response to a question about Ahmad Massoud, the leader of the National Resistance Front (NRF), Bolton said, "I think it is still too early to talk about this [...] but in the first days of the start of this movement against the Taliban in Panjshir, no one thought that they would last. However, they were able to survive and influence the prevailing atmosphere."

Referring to the Doha agreement between the Taliban and the US, he said that the Taliban does not believe in the agreement and will not implement it. He added that the Taliban is doing what was predicted of them. According to Bolton, there is nothing that can be reconciled with the Taliban.

Bolton said that there is no doubt that the resistance against the Taliban will continue in Afghanistan, but the lack of support and international relations makes the situation difficult.

The former US adviser called Washington's decision to withdraw from Afghanistan "catastrophic" and said that it will take a long time to correct this "mistake".

Bolton also added that Islamabad should realise that it made a mistake by supporting the Taliban. He added that Pakistan should know that it will be better for everyone if it rejects terrorism.

Earlier on Saturday, the embassy had announced the release of more than 500 people from Pakistani prisons.

Taliban officials in Islamabad have said that these people have been released from the Pakistani prison as a result of their efforts.

At the end of 2022, the Pakistani police increased their strict procedures against Afghan immigrants in the country and imprisoned many of them.

“Without our female colleagues, we cannot and will not work as we cannot provide services to the women of Afghanistan,” he added.

Egeland added that he had spoken to the Taliban officials and emphasised that this is a real impasse as humanitarian aid has been stopped for millions of Afghans even as dropping temperatures and bad weather conditions plague the nation.

The Secretary General of the NRC stressed that they will restart their aid operations, only when they gain unimpeded access for both their female and male staff members to reach all the affected population in need.

Egeland has highlighted how a continued Taliban ban on female NGO staff in Afghanistan can have devastating consequences on six million people who may fall into famine; it will leave 600,000 children without education; 13.5 million people without safe water supply and 14.1 million people with no protection services.

Habibullah Agha added that female teachers of educational centers supported by international organisations can return to their jobs with proper Hijab.

In a letter issued on Sunday, the Taliban’s minister of education letter said that secondary and high schools above grade six will remain closed to Afghan girls until further notice.

This is despite the fact that in some provinces, local authorities have closed schools below grade 6 for female students.

After banning women from work, UN-supported educational centers in Kandahar and other provinces have stopped operations.

The UN supports nearly 1,600 educational classes in Kandahar alone, and about 50,000 boys and girls had been educated there, while the majority of teachers in these educational centers had been Afghan women.

In the meeting, Egeland urged the Taliban to allow women’s work in Afghanistan.

The NRC Secretary General added that the organisation has helped 850,000 Afghan citizens in the past six months and plans to support another 700,000 people in the future.

However, the Taliban's minister of refugees, said, "One or two kilos of aid will not solve the problem of Afghans."

Egeland had previously announced that without male and female employees, NRC cannot resume its activities in Afghanistan.