Taliban will form govt in few days, says Qureshi

ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan is set to form its own government in a few days, said Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Tuesday, hours after the last US soldier left Afghanistan.

"We expect that a consensus government will be formed in the coming days in Afghanistan,” Shah Mehmood Qureshi told a news conference in Islamabad with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.

Meanwhile, China said the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan after a 20-year conflict signalled the country has “turned a new page”, after Beijing criticised Washington´s chaotic exit.

China has repeatedly slammed what it sees as a hasty and ill-planned US withdrawal and has said it is ready to deepen “friendly and cooperative” relations with the Taliban following their takeover.

“Afghanistan has been able to free itself of foreign military occupation,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular briefing.

“The Afghan people have ushered in a new beginning for national peace and reconstruction, and Afghanistan have turned a new page.”

China´s embassy in Kabul remains operational, although Beijing began evacuating Chinese citizens from the country months ago as security deteriorated. But Beijing has not yet recognised the Taliban as the de facto government, and is wary of the militant group providing support to Muslim-minority Uyghur separatists looking to infiltrate its sensitive border region of Xinjiang.