Syed Khalid Muhammad, Executive Director of CommandEleven, spoke with Arshad Mehmood from The Media Line, a US based news publication, about the recent shift in relations between Russia and the Taliban, after a report was released by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stating “Afghanistan remains complex and unstable, with terrorist networks representing the main source of unrest,” while estimating between 20,000 and 23,000 fighters belonging to international terrorist groups active in Afghanistan.
“There is a clear shift in relations between Russia and the Afghan Taliban, of which the first indications began to emerge soon after the Taliban was recognized by Moscow. It started with soft public statements, coupled with harsher behind-the-scenes conversations with the Taliban leadership.”
He asserted that “not only Russia but also China, another key ally of Kabul, is reconsidering its approach amid the worsening security situation,” and noted that ISIS was linked to the Moscow concert hall attack and the assault on a Chinese restaurant in Kabul, while Beijing also warned Kabul following attacks on Chinese workers at mining sites.
According to Muhammad, these incidents, along with a UN Security Council monitoring report stating that the Taliban were sheltering more than 21 terrorist groups, proved decisive and pushed both countries to rethink their overall strategies.
He further maintained that the Islamic State group branches maintain affiliations and training camps across Afghanistan, from the north to the southeast.
Muhammad added that despite past endorsements of the Taliban’s counter-terrorism efforts, Russia now questions their effectiveness against ISKP.”
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