Reuters reports:

The deadly attack on Kabul airport has underlined the realpolitik facing Western powers in Afghanistan: engaging with the Taliban may be their best chance to prevent the country sliding into a breeding ground for Islamist militancy.

Almost two weeks after the Taliban’s surprise return to power, officials in Europe are beginning to acknowledge that their pragmatic option is to put aside distaste for the country’s new leaders and work with them instead.

“It is clear: the Taliban are reality in Afghanistan now,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said this week. “This new reality is bitter, but we have to work with it.”

A senior European Union official said it is not enough for G7 powers to take the moral high ground and adopt an aggressive stance towards the Taliban, not least because that would hand China and Russia greater say over the future of the country.

He said that in recent days, Pakistan and Turkey have urged Western nations “not to corner the new regime too quickly”, to hold off imposing sanctions on Kabul and keep channels of discussion open to avert a security and migration meltdown that could have ripple effects across the globe.

Aid will be an important part of that outreach given the humanitarian crisis in a country beset by conflict and drought, with 5.5 million of its 40 million people internally displaced.

The EU said this week it would increase its support for Afghans still in the country and those fleeing it to over 200 million euros ($235 million) from over 50 million euros.

The United States is taking steps to allow humanitarian work to continue but has not reduced sanctions pressure on the Taliban,which it designates a terrorist organisation.

Washington does not appear to have come around to the view held in European capitals that the Taliban is the least bad option. [Continue reading…]