They took Kabul without a fight. Now comes the hard part. As Afghanistan stares at a cash crunch coupled with a food crisis, the UN warns that half the country's population is at risk. After empty promises by the Taliban to keep women in school and the workforce, no foreign power has so far recognised the country's new leadership.
That is the picture as we chalk up the present and the no-shows at a virtual summit of G20 nations hosted by Italy. We ask if that is arguably the second most important meeting on Afghanistan this Tuesday, what with US and EU leaders sitting down in Qatar with the Taliban foreign minister.
Whether you are in Doha or in Rome, the burning question is the same: under what terms does the outside world normalise ties with the Taliban?
Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Juliette Laurain and Imen Mellaz.
