The Taliban confirm they will attend a UN-led meeting in Qatar on Afghanistan

The Taliban have confirmed their delegation will attend an upcoming U.N.-led meeting in Qatar on Afghanistan after the organizers said last week that women would be excluded from the gathering. The June 30-July 1 meeting will be the third U.N.-sponsored gathering on the Afghan crisis. The Taliban were not invited to the first and set unacceptable conditions for attending the second, in February, including demands that Afghan civil society members be excluded from the talks and that they be treated as the country’s legitimate rulers. The Foreign Ministry in Kabul said on Tuesday that the chief Taliban government spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, will lead the Taliban delegation in Qatar.