Russia welcomes the Taliban as a lesser evil in Afghanistan
As the Taliban continue their advance in Afghanistan,
the Kremlin sees potential benefits.
The Taliban are officially designated as terrorists in
Russia but Moscow believes that they are a lesser evil compared with other
extremists, such as Islamic State, who could flourish as the US withdraws its
troops. Russia fears that Islamist extremism could spread into the former
Soviet states of central Asia on its southern border, reigniting local
insurgencies and cross-fertilising with extremists in the north Caucasus.
Terrorist attacks in Russia have been blamed on
Islamists from central Asian countries, such as Uzbekistan, which have large
migrant communities in Moscow and other cities. Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign
minister, believes that hostilities in Afghanistan are creating “niches” for
Islamic State fighters.
Moscow says that Isis fighters from Libya and Syria
are infiltrating Afghanistan and the US is turning a blind eye. Zamir Kabulov,
President Putin’s special envoy for Afghanistan, said last month that the
Taliban’s increasing control of the country could lead to the elimination of
jihadist groups. “The fact that the Taliban are taking control of districts has
a positive aspect to it. Why? Because most of these [extremist] groups are not
focused on domestic matters but on central Asia, Pakistan or Iran,” he said.
“The Talibs, who are taking these districts over, are their sworn enemies and
unlike the Afghan government, not to mention the Anglo-Saxons . . . the Talibs
fight and destroy them.”
That dig at US and British failures betrays a wider
Kremlin desire to keep American influence away from Russia’s borders.
