Explainer-What leverage do U.S., allies have over Taliban in Afghanistan?

Taliban soldiers talk to each other, in Kabul, Afghanistan September 1, 2021. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and its allies may have left Afghanistan in the hands of the Taliban but they still have "leverage" to make the Islamist militants honor commitments to allow people out of the country, according to U.S. President Joe Biden.

This was echoed by U.S. officials and other Western leaders, who believe the Taliban can be pressured into abandoning their past violence and support for terrorism with carrot and stick measures given Afghanistan's outsized dependence on imported energy, food and foreign aid - and its shaky economy https://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSKBN2FX39Q.