FThe main representative of radical Islamists Taliban During the Moscow talks, concerns that the war in Afghanistan might extend to neighboring countries were rejected. “Our territory will never be used against neighboring and friendly countries,” said Shahabddin Delava, head of the Taliban delegation, at a press conference in the Russian capital on Friday. According to Interfax news agency, the delegation met with Samir Kabulov, the representative of Moscow’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Afghanistan. Therefore, there are no plans to meet with Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Lavrov In Moscow, there is concern that the fighting in Afghanistan may spread to the Central Asian Republic. For example, Tajikistan recently provided refuge for more than 1,500 Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban. Uzbekistan has also reported that the border with Afghanistan is tense. Turkmenistan authorities reported that fighting was taking place on the border with neighboring countries.
In Tajikistan, the authorities set up tent camps for Afghan refugees. They also announced that they would mobilize 20,000 soldiers to protect the 900-kilometer-long border with Afghanistan. The Russian army stationed in Tajikistan is on alert. Foreign Minister Lavrov said that as long as the Taliban limit their fighting to Afghanistan and do not cross the border, Russia has no reason to intervene.
Sohail Shahin, the spokesperson of the Taliban’s political office in Doha, also assured Moscow that after the withdrawal of US troops, their Afghan interpreters will have no reason to leave the country. “We guarantee their safety,” he said. You can support the reconstruction of Afghanistan. At the same time, he stated that he will continue to fight the terrorist militia in Afghanistan, the Islamic State (IS). The north and east of the country have been “cleared”.
The Taliban is banned in Russia as an extremist organization. Nevertheless, the country is negotiating with them. The Kremlin announced on Friday that President Vladimir Putin was also in the photo.
Taliban: Control 85% of Afghanistan
The Taliban said in Moscow on Friday that they now control 85% of Afghanistan’s territory. Government officials in Kabul rejected this statement. However, local officials admitted that with the withdrawal of international forces, Taliban fighters occupied more areas. For example, this includes an important area in Herat Province, where tens of thousands of Shia minority members live. In addition, the rebels occupied the town of Torhondi, which borders Turkmenistan in the north, overnight.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is concerned that it may become more difficult to deliver much-needed relief supplies to Afghanistan, such as a vaccine against the coronavirus. Rick Brennan, the WHO regional director, said at a UN briefing in Geneva: “This is a very worrying situation and very unstable.”
