UN Holds Technical Meeting on Transnational Crime with Taliban Officials in Kabul

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Afghanistan has announced that it held a technical meeting in Kabul involving representatives from member states and Taliban officials. The goal of the session was to create a platform for technical dialogue on confidence-building measures in combating drug trafficking, money laundering, terrorism financing, and other transnational crimes.

The UNODC stated that the meeting was part of the Doha Process, an initiative overseen by the United Nations and implemented in cooperation with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the Qatari envoy to Afghanistan. In recent months, the Doha Process has served as a framework for dialogue between the international community and the Taliban administration.

While the UN emphasizes that the primary aim of these meetings is to strengthen regional cooperation in curbing organized crime, experts argue that without guarantees of transparency and accountability within Afghanistan, these talks are unlikely to yield tangible outcomes. Some observers believe that the Taliban has yet to demonstrate concrete commitment to combating transnational crimes, particularly drug trafficking, and urge the international community to adopt clearer benchmarks when engaging with the group.