US officials have held direct talks with the Taliban for the first time since a US attack killed an al-Qaeda leader in Afghanistan in July.
The Biden administration sent CIA deputy director David Cohen to the Qatari capital Doha on Saturday to meet with a Taliban delegation led by Taliban intelligence chief Abdul Haq Wasik, Fox News confirmed.
The meeting marked the first face-to-face meeting between the two since a U.S. drone strike killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawari earlier this summer in Kabul, the Taliban-controlled Afghan capital. It casts doubt on the existence of terrorist groups in the country.
The Taliban claimed they were unaware that the al-Qaeda chief was in the country, and said the drone strike was a “clear violation” of the Doha Accords signed with former President Donald Trump in 2020.
Afghanistan a year later: How everyday life in the war-torn country has changed since the Taliban took over
But under the 2020 Doha Accords signed by the United States and rebel groups, the Taliban promised not to allow safe havens to members of al-Qaeda or anyone seeking to attack the United States.
Al-Zawari was found living in a Kabul hideout linked to a deputy Taliban leader.
World ‘unsafe’ in Taliban Afghanistan: ‘hostile medieval death cult’ complicates global security
The al-Qaeda leader had been staying for months at the home of an aide to Sirajuddin Haqqani, chief of staff to Taliban supreme leader Mullah Haibatalah Akunzada, according to US officials.
Al-Zawahri was killed by a US drone strike after stepping onto an outside balcony.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Caitlin McFall of Fox News contributed to this report