Senior Afghan Taliban officials in Japan for talks with Japanese officials

TOKYO — Japanese officials said senior Afghan Taliban officials were in Japan for talks, as part of Tokyo’s efforts to help Afghanistan build a more inclusive political system and protect human rights.

It’s their first known diplomatic trip outside the Central Asia-Middle East region since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in 2021.

The unidentified Taliban senior officials were invited by grant-making organization Nippon Zaidan and were also set to talk with Japanese Foreign Ministry officials, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters Monday.

The Taliban officials were invited to help them better understand the need “to have a broad perspective toward their future nation building and to widely accept humanitarian assistance from the international community for vulnerable people, Nippon Zaidan said in a statement. It declined to give details of the visitors and their schedule.

Japan does not formally recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan’s official government.

Hayashi noted the visit was initiated by a private organization but complements the Japanese government’s effort to work with the international community to call on the Taliban to make policy changes that protect human rights.

Restrictions the Taliban impose on women and girls are a major hurdle to the Taliban being recognized as the official government of Afghanistan.

The trip was initially revealed by Latif Nazari, the Taliban’s deputy economy minister, who posted on the X platform that “a high-level delegation” was heading to Japan and that the Taliban seek dignified engagement with the world as an active member of the international community.