Taliban says US will provide humanitarian aid to Afghanistan

Relatives and residents attend a funeral ceremony for victims of a suicide attack at the Gozar-e-Sayed Abad Mosque in Kunduz, northern Afghanistan (AP)

The US has agreed to provide humanitarian aid to a Afghanistan while refusing to give political recognition to the country’s new Taliban rulers, officials said.

The Taliban’s statement came at the end of the first direct talks between the former foes since the chaotic withdrawal of US troops at the end of August, with Afghanistan on the brink of economic disaster.