Qatar urges Taliban to combat 'terrorism' after US' Afghan pullout

Qatar's foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, urged the Taliban on Tuesday to combat terrorism after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, and called for an inclusive government.

"We stressed the importance of cooperation to combat terrorism... and we stressed the importance of the Taliban to cooperate in this field," he said in a press conference after meeting with his German counterpart, Heiko Maas.

"It is our role to always urge them (Taliban) to have an expanded government that includes all parties and not to exclude any party.

"During our talks with the Taliban, there was no positive or negative response," al-Thani said, referring to recent talks between Qatar and Afghanistan's new rulers.

Taliban fighters celebrated with gunfire on Tuesday hours after the last US forces abandoned Kabul, closing a frenzied airlift operation that saw more than 123,000 foreign nationals and Afghans flee.

The US invaded Afghanistan and toppled its Taliban government in 2001 in the wake of the 9/11 attacks by Al-Qaeda, which had sought sanctuary in the country.

Western capitals fear Afghanistan could again become a haven for extremists bent on attacking them.

Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain have been instrumental staging posts for evacuation flights for Western countries' citizens as well as Afghan interpreters, journalists and others. The UK and US have said they will operate their Afghan missions from Doha.