Taliban says US will provide humanitarian aid to Afghanistan

By KATHY GANNON
Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban say Washington has agreed to provide humanitarian aid to a desperately poor Afghanistan on the brink of an economic disaster, while refusing to give political recognition to the country’s new rulers. The statement from the Taliban came on Sunday at the end of the first direct talks between the former foes since the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops at the end of August. The U.S. statement was less definitive, saying only that the two sides “discussed the United States’ provision of robust humanitarian assistance, directly to the Afghan people.”