The Taliban have announced that Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, the group’s Defense Minister, has traveled to Moscow to participate in an international security conference.
The visit comes just days after Sergei Shoigu, Secretary of Russia’s Security Council, stated that more than 20 transnational terrorist groups with over 23,000 fighters are present in Afghanistan and warned that the Taliban are unable to fully contain these groups.
Shoigu urged member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to take threats originating from Afghanistan seriously and to increase cooperation in addressing regional security risks.
According to a Taliban statement regarding Yaqoob’s trip, he traveled to Russia to attend an international security meeting and is expected to participate in discussions on regional security, shared security challenges, and mutual cooperation.
It was stated that the meeting will be attended by security and defense officials from several regional and international countries, with the main focus on examining security threats and ways to strengthen cooperation among nations.
Russia is the first and only country to officially recognize the Taliban government. However, Russian security officials have repeatedly expressed concern in recent years about the activities of terrorist groups in Afghanistan and have issued warnings on the matter.
Meanwhile, Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan, announced yesterday that Moscow is prepared to send humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, but that such assistance would depend on an official request from the Taliban.
Writer:Salima Aryaei
