Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. chief interlocutor for Afghanistan, steps down

Thomas West, who has been Deputy Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation since January this year, will replace Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement

Some two months after the U.S.’s chaotic troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, in what was meant to be an , has resigned. Mr. Khalilzad, an Afghan-American, was appointed in 2018 by former U.S. President Donald Trump and continued to hold the position in the Biden administration.

Thomas West, who has been Deputy Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation since January this year, will replace Mr. Khalilzad, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said via a statement. In his role as Deputy, Mr. West had already met Taliban representatives in Doha after the American departure. He also made a trip to Kabul with CIA Director William Burns, as per a CNN report.