Russia raises alarm over Afghan security
Russia has warned that Islamic State and al Qaeda could exploit the instability of Taliban-ruled Afghanistan to regroup and urged international aid efforts to stave off a humanitarian crisis.
The Taliban were in Moscow yesterday for talks with Russian officials that also involved China, Iran, India and Pakistan. Although Russia has previously hosted Taliban officials, it was the first time they had visited Moscow since seizing power in August.
Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, called on the international community to mobilise its resources to provide Afghanistan with ‘‘effective financial, economic and humanitarian assistance’’.
He added that Moscow would dispatch a new shipment of aid to the ‘‘friendly people of Afghanistan’’ in the coming days. This month, the EU pledged a €1 billion (NZ$1.6 billion) emergency humanitarian aid package for Afghanistan.
Lavrov also lauded what he said were the Taliban’s efforts to stabilise security in Afghanistan but warned that ‘‘numerous terrorist groups’’, including Isis and al Qaeda, were exploiting economic and social instability. ‘‘They are again trying to raise their heads,’’ he said.
President Vladimir Putin said last week that about 2000 Isis fighters were gathered on Afghanistan’s northern border with Tajikistan and were planning to infiltrate central Asian states and Russian regions by disguising themselves as refugees. The CSTO, a Moscow-led collective security alliance made up of former Soviet states, will hold military exercises on Tajikistan’s porous border with Afghanistan this week.
In the latest Isis attack, two Taliban fighters and four schoolchildren were injured in a hand-grenade attack in Kabul. The explosion targeted Taliban security forces at Deh Mazang Square in the capital.
Moscow has been seeking to position itself as a key player on Afghanistan since America’s abrupt withdrawal from the country in August and has said there is ‘‘no alternative’’ to Taliban rule.
However, it has also said that it will not recognise the Taliban, who are outlawed in Russia as a terrorist organisation, until it respects human rights and forms a government that represents all of Afghanistan’s 38 million people.
Abdul Salam Hanafi, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister, appeared to dismiss at least some of those terms, saying: ‘‘The government in Afghanistan is already inclusive.’’