US envoy in Kabul amid tensions over Taliban office in Qatar

The US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan has arrived in Kabul to hold talks with Afghan officials, amid recent tensions over the opening of a Taliban political office in Qatar.

James Dobbins will hold talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and other senior officials on Monday.

“He (Dobbins) is going to come and meet the president today,” an Afghan presidential palace official in Kabul said.

Before arriving in Kabul, Dobbins was in the Qatari capital with US Secretary of State John Kerry.

The tension between Washington and Kabul broke out on June 18, when the Taliban militant group opened its new political office in Doha under the name of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

The Afghan government has reacted angrily to the opening of the office, which is backed by the United States.

Kabul has also suspended talks with Washington on a proposed security agreement.

Afghanistan says it wants to lead any talks with militants and that the opening of Taliban’s office in Qatar contradicts earlier US security guarantees.

The Afghan government on Sunday demanded a full explanation as to how the US and Qatar allowed the Taliban to raise its flag over its office in Doha.

“The manner in which the office was established was in clear breach of the principles and terms of references agreed with us by the US government,” said Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai.

Senior Afghan officials in Kabul say the Taliban militants will be able to use the office to raise funds for their campaign in Afghanistan.

The Taliban was removed from power in Afghanistan following the invasion of the country by the United States and its allies in 2001, which was carried out as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror.