Ex-Afghan President Karzai Urges World to Work With Taliban

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called on the international community to work with the Taliban (under UN sanctions for terrorism).

When asked in an interview with CNN whether the world needs to work with the Taliban, Karzai stated: "It is necessary."

"Definitely there will be instances where they will need to work with the reality on the ground," Karzai said. "The reality on the ground is that the Taliban are now the de-facto authorities in the country, so they will have to work with them in order to reach the Afghan people, in order to provide assistance to the Afghan people."

Karzai also welcomed a recent UN Security Council resolution allowing humanitarian aid payments to Afghanistan despite current sanctions. The US resolution was adopted unanimously on Wednesday.

The Taliban took over Afghanistan in August, ending the years-long US and NATO military presence. President Ashraf Ghani stepped down, and the radical group set up a government.