Afghanistan crisis live updates: Ghani vows to return, ensure 'justice' for Afghans in 1st address since fleeing

If we are going to recognize a government, we will have to wait till the government is formed, China's foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday. Only after that, will we come to the question of diplomatic recognition, Zhao told reporters at a daily briefing.

Session is being convened with the support of 60 Observer States so far, including France, India, Japan, Pakistan and United Kingdom.

A Taliban commander and senior leader of the Haqqani Network militant group, Anas Haqqani, has met former Afghan President Hamid Karzai for talks, a Taliban official said on Wednesday, amid efforts by the Taliban to set up a government. Karzai was accompanied by the old government's main peace envoy, Abdullah Abdullah, in the meeting, said the Taliban official, who declined to be identified. He gave no more details.

The Taliban have blown up the statue of a Shiite militia leader who had fought against them during Afghanistan's civil war in the 1990s, according to photos circulating on social media Wednesday. The statue depicted Abdul Ali Mazari, a militia leader killed by the Taliban in 1996, when the Islamic militants seized power from rival warlords. Mazari was a champion of Afghanistan's ethnic Hazara minority, Shiites who were persecuted under the Sunni Taliban's earlier rule.

After Kabul fell into the hands of the Taliban, the US is taking steps to keep cash away from the Taliban. US Treasury has taken steps to prevent cash reserves managed by the Federal Reserve and other US banks out of the hands of the Taliban, officials told CNN. CNN reported earlier this week that the abrupt collapse of the Afghanistan government on Sunday had raised questions from several veterans of previous administrations about assets of the Afghan Central Bank and whether any of the money could end up in the hands of the Taliban.