The presence of the Taliban in the north of Afghanistan will restrain the growth of threats from the terrorist group “Islamic State” for the countries of Central Asia, said the Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for Afghanistan, Director of the Second Asia Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Zamir Kabulov during an online roundtable hosted by Public Diplomacy Support Fund. Zamir was of the view that there are numerous international terrorist organizations including ISIS in Northern areas of the country and these groups are no less harmful and cooperate with each other for tactical reasons. According to Kabulov, these groups can undermine the stability in Afghanistan’s neighboring states while taking advantage of the chaotic situation in the Country. He said that the Taliban have been actively fighting ISIS all these years, which cannot be said about America and NATO, or Afghan government. Zamir said that the very presence of the Taliban in these territories will deter growing threats from ISIS and other international terrorists against Central Asian states.
According to Putin’s Special envoy, there is no proof that Taliban movement pose any threat to the security of the Central Asian countries in near future or tried to cross the borders with neighboring Countries. During his address, Zamir also enumerated America’s strategic mistakes in Afghanistan including imposition of its ideas of democracy on the Afghan people, and establishment of extensive military bases in Afghanistan to project its military might over the entire adjacent region.
Apparently, Russian Special Envoy projected prospective of his country regarding the current Situation in Afghanistan, however independent optics view the Afghan situation a bit different from the Kabulov. The importance of Taliban as military and political power of Afghanistan cannot be denied and their rivalry with ISIS is also evident. Since from the emergence of the Taliban movement their concentration remained toward domestic affairs and they did not create problems for the neighboring countries so far. The Russian SVR has rightly informed Russian Special Envoy for Afghanistan regarding safe havens of terrorist organizations in Northern and Eastern Parts of the Country. It would be important to mention that US troops and Afghan Army rarely operated against other terrorist groups except Taliban therefore numerous regional separatist and terrorist groups found hideous places easily in the Country. According to reports, more than a dozen anti-Pakistan terrorist groups including TTP, BLA, BLF and others have their training and logistics bases in Afghanistan. Similarly, anti-Iran and anti-China groups had been enjoying safe heavens in US occupied Afghanistan during the past. Seemingly, US and Afghan Intelligence Agencies knowingly provided space to these terrorist groups for the purpose of their strategic use against the neighboring countries.Afghan parties must realize the suffering and miseries of their countrymen and think above their political and party interests to achieve peace and prosperity in the country.
