The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) announced that the inaugural meeting of the Counter-Narcotics Working Group was held on Thursday.

This working group was formed based on the decisions of the third meeting in Doha. UNAMA said that the task force would pave the way for coordinated engagement with the Taliban.

The plan to establish the working group is one of the recommendations of the independent assessment presented to the Security Council to "pursue a more coordinated and structured process of engagement with the Afghan governing authorities for the benefit of the Afghan people," the statement said.

Roza Otunbayeva, the UN Secretary-General's Representative and Head of UNAMA, called the fight against narcotics a very important issue for Afghanistan, which she said affects both rural communities and regional peace and stability.
So far, no information has been released about the members of this working group.

It is unclear whether there are any members of Afghan civil society and anti-Taliban factions in the working group.

Based on the decisions of the third meeting in Doha, another working group on the economy is also to be formed.

After the establishment of these two groups, the fourth meeting in Doha will be held.

The third Doha meeting was attended by the special representatives of countries for Afghanistan on June 30 and July 1. At the time, the United Nations stated that the purpose of the meeting was to "increase international engagement with Afghanistan in a coherent and structured manner”.

Taliban representatives were invited to the third Doha meeting, but women, civil society, and political opponents of the Taliban were not present.