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The Jerusalem Post

Russia says it's working on removing Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations

 
 Russian presidential envoy to Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov shakes hands with a representative of the Taliban delegation Mawlawi Shahabuddin Dilawar before the beginning of international talks on Afghanistan in Moscow, Russia, October 20, 2021.  (photo credit: ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO/REUTERS)
Russian presidential envoy to Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov shakes hands with a representative of the Taliban delegation Mawlawi Shahabuddin Dilawar before the beginning of international talks on Afghanistan in Moscow, Russia, October 20, 2021.
(photo credit: ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO/REUTERS)

"We need to resolve pressing issues, this also requires dialog, so in this regard we communicate with them like practically everyone else - they are the de facto authority in Afghanistan."

Russia said on Tuesday it had important matters to discuss with Afghanistan's Taliban leaders and was working to remove the Taliban from its list of banned terrorist organizations.

"This is a country that is next to us, and one way or another we communicate with them," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"We need to resolve pressing issues, this also requires dialog, so in this regard we communicate with them like practically everyone else - they are the de facto authority in Afghanistan."

Peskov did not elaborate on the "pressing issues," but Russia suffered its deadliest attack for 20 years last month when gunmen stormed a concert hall outside Moscow, killing at least 144 people.

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ISIS claims responsibility

Islamic State militants claimed responsbility and US officials said they had intelligence that it was the network's Afghan branch, Islamic State Khorasan, that was responsible. Russia has said it is also investigating a Ukrainian link, something Kyiv and the United States have strongly rejected.

 Taliban members on the second anniversary of the fall of Kabul, near the US embassy in the Afghan capital, Aug. 15, 2023 (credit: ALI KHARA/REUTERS)
Taliban members on the second anniversary of the fall of Kabul, near the US embassy in the Afghan capital, Aug. 15, 2023 (credit: ALI KHARA/REUTERS)

The Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021 after the withdrawal of US-led foreign forces, but have remained until now on a list of organizations that Russia designates as terrorist.

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