Trilateral talks were held late last year between the governments of Qatar, Turkey and Afghanistan.
There are currently no agreements under discussion between the Qatari and Afghan interim governments on cooperation on security and defense issues, Qatari officials told Doha News in a statement on Friday.
“The State of Qatar remains focused on meeting the urgent humanitarian and economic needs of the Afghan people. We will continue to work with our global partners.”
The statement comes after false reports of an alleged security pact reached between the two parties on cooperation on security and defense issues. causing confusion.
The report pointed to an agreement whereby Qatar would provide uniforms to the security forces, pay salaries to the Defense Ministry troops and provide other military equipment to the interim government.
However, Qatari officials have confirmed that no such agreement has been reached.
Qatar has played a key role in providing diplomatic support between the Taliban and the international community, and after last year’s Taliban takeover, the airlift of civilians, journalists and diplomas out of Kabul helped lead the way around the world. praised by people.
Although the security deal has not been formalized, Qatar has been in talks with Turkey about plans to secure facilities in the war-torn country.
Qatari and Turkish technical teams have been deployed to Kabul after US and NATO forces conducted a disorderly withdrawal from Afghanistan on August 31.
When the Taliban took over, Qatar successfully conducted the largest airlift in history, facilitating the safe exodus of at least 80,000 Afghans and foreigners.
A Qatari-Turkish team was tasked with repairing parts of the airport so that it could resume civilian flights after the withdrawal of troops.
The airport resumed operations by September 9, when the first passenger flights left Kabul. The Qatar Airways flight transported 113 Afghans and foreigners out of the country.
Qatari and Turkish companies continued to work on the technical part of the airport without a final contract, despite a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the two allies last December.
In May, the Taliban signed an agreement with the UAE to provide services at airports in Kabul, Kandahar and Herat. The deal applied to the logistics portion of the airport and not security.
At the time, Afghanistan’s Acting Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghani Baradal told Al Jazeera that the contract provided for the provision of “ground services only” and did not address the issue of “the organization and management of Kabul International Airport”. said.
The US, which spearheaded two decades of aggression against the country, has quickly frozen up to $9.1 billion worth of Afghan assets, contributing to the economic downturn.
In February, US President Joe Biden ordered the release of $7 billion in Afghan funds. The Biden administration has decided to give a total of $3.5 billion to Afghans living in dire humanitarian conditions.
The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan is also worsening year by year due to war, drought and corruption. According to the United Nations, more than 24.4 million people need humanitarian assistance to survive.
A 2021 report estimates that 97% of Afghans could be living in poverty by the middle of the year.
