Russian-Taliban friendship?

Will Russia play a new game of friendship with Taliban militants? Photo: Reuters

Will Russia play a new game of friendship with Taliban militants? Photo: Reuters

One is the country, the other militant organization. Each other's opponent So-fish Once upon a time, they fought against each other. Now they are allocated? Hand in hand? One is helping hands to one another? Who are the allies to suffer?

The United States has accused the Taliban militants of Afghanistan and Russian relations. The complaint is serious. The United States complains they are friends now The start of the shock is here. Have raised many questions.

The Afghan Mujahid who fought against the former Soviet Union in the war against the United States. Most of them are Taliban militants later on. Initially, face-to-face with Russia was also closed. But the United States complains that Russia is now supplying arms to the Taliban militants through Tajik border.

Taliban militants are well-trained. The military forces have to sweat a lot of time to counter the counter-attacking arms. They also attacked the US military. Where do the Taliban militants provide food? This question has been going on for a long time since it has been around. It has been said that Pakistan is backing them. Iran's name has come a few times. Russia joins the list

According to the sources in the Western media, sources in the Taliban have said that after the United States was ousted in 2001, the opportunity to build a relationship with the Taliban was created. The communication between Moscow and Taliban militants began 10 years ago. These sources also say that the relationship between the Taliban militants with Moscow in the last three years has been close. Especially after the militant group 'IS Khorasan' emerged in January 2015, the relationship gets a new dimension.

Several media sources said that several Taliban leaders have met several times with Russian officials. They met in other countries except for Russia. The Taliban hope they get sophisticated weapons from Russia. Taliban militants want weapons as soon as the US gave such advanced weapons during the Soviet-Afghan war. The Taliban want to build diplomatic relations with Iran and China. Diplomatic relations will get a new dimension if you get to Russia next.

There is a conception of Russia's new contact with Taliban after the Nine-Eleven attack in the United States. After this period, Moscow's policymakers recognized the existence of Taliban militants in Afghanistan. Moscow also says there is no way to reduce the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Russia's positive attitude towards the Taliban revealed in March of 2017. Putin's special envoy to Afghanistan, Jamir Kabulov, also said that the removal of foreign troops from Afghanistan is very logical. He also criticized the presence of US and NATO forces for a long time in Afghanistan.

Looking back, the development trend of the Taliban with Russia is somewhat understandable. Three reasons have been highlighted in BBC News. First, the Taliban kidnapped two Russian citizens in 2013 and 2016. The Taliban gave freedom to two Russian citizens after a long discussion.

Secondly, in the rise of IS militants in Afghanistan, Moscow was slightly scared. Moscow fears, IS militants can spread in Asia and Russia. That's why Russia leaned towards the Taliban. The Taliban also took advantage of this. They assured neighboring countries that IS militants will remain in Afghanistan.

Thirdly, Russia wants to use Taliban militants as a shield to prevent IS In 2015, the special envoy of the Russian President, Jamiar Kabulov, announced, "The purpose of the Taliban militants and our intentions are the same. We want to fight IS militants. '

After all this, it is not the only way to emphasize that friendship between Russia and Taliban militants has developed. There are questions about the US allegations. The question is about the interests of Russia or Taliban militants.

US Ambassador to Afghanistan John Nicholson in an interview in March complained that Russia was giving arms to Taliban through smuggling through border areas of Tajikistan. US officials brought these weapons to the Pentagon. Nicholson claimed that the Taliban had received these weapons from Russia, as they said the Afghan leaders.

Nicholson's statement is not to be blown away. Because he has been working in Afghanistan's war-torn areas during most of his professional life.

However, Nicholson could not calculate exactly how much weapons the Taliban is giving to the militants. Senior police officers in Afghanistan, Army officials say, Russia is giving medium and heavy guns, small arms to the Taliban.

There is a question about Nicholson's complaint. The first drawback is that the matter of Russia's interest in helping the Taliban is unclear.

Russia denies accusations of Taliban weapons in different media at different times Russia has argued that if they support the Taliban militants they have no political advantage. Russia has raised counter complaints in the United States. The NATO and the United States have accused the Russian side of raising charges against Russia for its failure to curb the Taliban.

US officials also disagree about supplying arms to Russia. US Defense Secretary James Mattis told the House Armed Services Committee in October last year that he would like more evidence to support the Taliban militants in Russia. What has been shown to him so far is not enough.

Among Afghan officials, there are disagreements about the Taliban's assistance with Russian arms. Last year, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said that Russia is providing the weapons of Taliban militants. But at the same time, the Afghan Defense Minister blamed the allegation as a rumor.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in July last year that Russia did not receive any such evidence that it is supporting the United States. Tajikistan also denied the Russian arms reaching the Taliban. They say the charges against Gen. Nicholson are baseless.

Apparently, it can be said that Russia is now flexible to the enemy Taliban militants. It may be that in Moscow, intervening in Afghanistan, it actually wants to harass the United States or the western world. Together with the Taliban, wants to play a new game.