Taliban travel to Oslo to seek international recognition

For the first time since taking power in Afghanistan, the Taliban have travelled to a European country for talks with Western officials. The Taliban delegation, which landed in Oslo on Saturday night, will spend three days in the Norwegian capital to discuss humanitarian aid with representatives of several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy. 

According to Abdul Qahar Balkhi, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the meetings will also focus on "politics, education and economic issues". The all-male Taliban group arrived in Oslo aboard a private plane provided by the Norwegian government. In addition to Western representatives, the Taliban are expected to meet with members of Afghan civil society, including women, activists and journalists.

The US State Department announced that on the agenda for the meetings are the "formation of a representative political system, responses to urgent humanitarian and economic crises, security and counterterrorism concerns, and human rights, especially education for girls and women".

For the Taliban, this visit is also aimed at gaining legitimacy in the eyes of the international community. Since taking over Kabul last August, they have made efforts to appear 'moderate' to the West in order to seek recognition. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told the AFP news agency that they had "taken steps to meet the demands of the Western world". "We hope to strengthen our relations through diplomacy with all countries, including European countries and the West in general," he added.

However, Afghan humanitarian organisations and activists continue to warn of ongoing human rights violations in Afghanistan. In the same week that the Taliban travel to Oslo to meet with Western officials, the United Nations is demanding information about two Afghan women activists whose whereabouts are unknown.

"The UN shares the growing concern over the disappearance of two Afghan women activists, Tamana Zaryabi Paryani and Parawana Ibrahimkhel, who were reportedly abducted from their homes overnight on Wednesday. We urge the Taliban to provide information on their whereabouts and protect the rights of all Afghans," UNAMA (the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) wrote on Twitter.

Paryani was one of dozens of activists who have taken part in protests demanding education and jobs for women. On Wednesday night she recorded a video reporting that the Taliban had entered her house. "Please help, the Taliban have come to my house, my sisters are at home," Paryani pleaded in the recording, which was posted on social media.

On numerous occasions, activists and journalists have charged that today's Taliban are "just like" the Taliban of 1996, despite the Emirate's government's efforts to deny it. Even so, Afghan women continue to organise and march to defend their rights and denounce the brutal misogyny of the fundamentalists. In response, many Afghan men have organised counter-demonstrations calling for "Sharia law" and defending the laws dictated by their rulers. "We want hijab", "A woman without hijab is not an Afghan woman", some of the banners read, AFP reports. 

Because of the Taliban's flagrant human rights violations, many Afghans have criticised Norway's invitation to the Islamists. "We must all raise our voices and prevent any country from normalising a terrorist group as a representative of Afghanistan," wrote Ali Maisam Nazary, head of foreign relations for the National Resistance Front (NRF), an Afghan opposition organisation.

However, the Norwegian government has assured that these meetings "do not represent a legitimisation of the recognition of the Taliban". "We must talk to the de facto authorities in the country. We cannot allow the political situation to lead to an even worse humanitarian disaster," said Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt. 

When the Taliban came to power, all other countries suspended funding to Afghanistan. Against this backdrop of no foreign aid, severe drought and a harsh winter, the living conditions of Afghan citizens have taken a serious downturn. Hunger threatens 23 million Afghans, 55% of the population, according to UN figures. In this regard, the UN stresses that 5 billion dollars are needed from donor countries to improve the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.

The Taliban have previously travelled to Russia, Iran, Pakistan, China, Turkmenistan and Qatar. Doha has been the main supporter of the Islamists, as well as the host of negotiations between the Taliban and the US that culminated in the Doha Accords and the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan..