Russia has remained one of the most important supporters of the Taliban, and Moscow has repeatedly expressed its unflinching support to improve the political landscape of Afghanistan in the global arena.
The Taliban took power in August 2021 following the withdrawal of US troops and the disintegration of the Afghan army, but since then no country has recognized them. The majority of the western countries, inducing US imposed conditions to reopen schools for girls and let women go to the workplaces as the main element to recognize their government.
However, the Taliban seems reluctant to do so as they are yet to reopen schools’ girls. Meanwhile, the regional countries including China and Iran called for the formation of an inclusive government in order to recognize the Taliban government.
Anyways, Russia is currently considering taking the Taliban off its list of terrorist organizations, according to TACC.
There is no final decision yet to be taken on this, but it is widely held by the officials of Taliban and Russian to further explore on the matter during the International Economic Forum to be held in Kazan, Russia in May. The Taliban are officially invited. There is no major obstacle on the way of having a very cordial tie between the Kremlin and Kabul due to the political and economic crisis in Afghanistan and Western sanctions on Russia due to the Ukraine war, likely improving the chance that both countries gain something from a stronger relationship.
In 2003 Russia recognized Taliban as a terrorist movement
In 1999, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution in which the Taliban was found responsible for the “provision of sanctuary and training for international terrorists.”
In 2003, the Russian supreme court recognized the Taliban as a terrorist outlet, saying the Taliban has maintained links with illegal armed forces in Chechnya and tried to seize power in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
However, the Kremlin is not taking the Taliban as the past and it was Russia that hosted the Taliban for the first time before the official start of intro-Afghan peace talks in Doha of Qatar in 2018. The Taliban officials were also happy to visit Moscow and they have given several interviews to the Russian media outlets and to other media.
Russian Presidential envoy to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov said that the Russian Foreign and Justice Ministries have called on President Vladimir Putin to remove the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from Moscow’s terrorist list.
In 2024, Russia seeks to remove Taliban from Moscow’s terrorist list
“This must be done. Without this, it will be premature to talk about recognition. Therefore, work on this issue continues. All considerations have been reported to the top leadership of Russia. We are waiting for a decision.”
Meanwhile, Kabulov confirmed that the Taliban will participate in the economic forum and said Taliban’s labor minister and the head of Chamber of Commerce and Industry will take part in the forum.
“I expect that they and the accompanying Afghan business people will agree with Russian and other foreign partners on establishing cooperation,” Kabulov said.
“As for the Russian side, I have already mentioned that such cooperation is already in place, but its potential has not been exhausted and wider possibilities exist,” he added.
“I expect that the Afghan delegation will make the most of this chance to strengthen and expand cooperation both with Russian business and with other friendly countries,” he said.
The call to remove Taliban name from list comes when Pakistani authorities called on the Taliban government to shun supporting and harboring Pakistani Taliban TTP. They also informed about the arrest of 11 Islamist militants who were involved in the suicide bombing that killed Chinese engineers in March.
Pakistan blames Taliban for supporting terrorist group
The attack involving suicide bombing occurred in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province forced Power China and the China Gezhouba Company to halt work on two dam projects. Five Chinese engineers and a Pakistani driver were killed in the incident.
In a press conference, Pakistan’s counter-terrorism chief Rai Tahir along with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that the detained 11 militants belong to the local Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Tahir said that the arrest of the suspects was made possible by the suicide bombers use of a mobile to communicate with his local handlers.
But Tahir claimed that the investigation and evidence revealed that the militants were following orders from TTP officials in Afghanistan.
Pakistani officials have earlier also claimed that the attack was plotted in Afghanistan and that the suicide bomber was also an Afghan national.
However, the Taliban officially denied the claim and said that they will not allow the Afghan soil to be used against any other country. Taliban also said that they are not harboring TTP militants and called on Pakistan to improve its security and stop blaming its neighbor. Meanwhile, Minister Naqvi claimed that they have forensic evidence to prove that the TTP militants who were operating from Afghanistan are involved in the attack.
