GENEVA: The head of the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday he had met with the Taliban’s health minister for talks on the “dire” health and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

WHO chief Tedros Adha­nom Ghebreyesus revealed that he met Qalander Ebad for talks on Tuesday.

Ebad is part of a Taliban delegation visiting Geneva for a week of talks with institutions and non-governmental agencies on humanitarian access and human rights, as Afghanistan’s new rulers expand their international engagement.

The hardline Islamist Taliban movement returned to power in Kabul in mid-August as the United States ended its 20-year war in Afghanistan.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2022