Militants of the radical Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia) entered Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Sunday, meeting no resistance, and started to take control of governmental offices and police stations, abandoned by pro-government forces.
Sporadic clashes were reported on the city’s outskirts, but no information about casualties is available so far. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has left the country, and, according to latest reports, arrived to Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent. Later, the Taliban announced it had gained control over all districts of the capital.
Afghanistan’s acting Interior Minister Abdul Sattar Mirzakval imposed a night-time curfew in the city starting from 21:00 local time in order to prevent provocations and maintain the security of the civilian population.
Russia’s special presidential representative for Afghanistan, director of the Foreign Ministry’s Second Asian Department Zamir Kabulov, has said that starting from Monday he will be contacting the Taliban movement by telephone.
"We will be in touch by telephone as of tomorrow," he said in reply to a corresponding question.
Russia’s special presidential representative for Afghanistan, director of the Foreign Ministry’s Second Asian Department Zamir Kabulov, said on Sunday he hoped for establishing friendly relations between Moscow and Afghanistan’s new leadership.
"This is not only a hope of mine. I am certain about this. We will be building relations with reliance on the material that we have accumulated over years," TASS cited Kabulov as saying.
Russia will not hurry to recognize the Taliban regime in Afghanistan (the Taliban movement is outlawed in Russia). "We are not in a rush as far as recognition is concerned. We will wait and watch how the regime will behave," he said.
No pockets of resistance to the movement Taliban (outlawed in Russia) are likely to emerge in Afghanistan, Russia’s special presidential representative for Afghanistan, director of the Foreign Ministry’s Second Asian Department Zamir Kabulov said on Sunday.
"The way I see it, it is already too late to expect any pockets of resistance to crop up. In all likelihood, if the Taliban selects the correct policy, no pockets of resistance will emerge," he said.
The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Afghanistan on Monday morning (10 a.m. EDT / 2 p.m. GMT).
Council diplomats said Sunday that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will brief council members on the latest situation following the Taliban takeover of the capital, Kabul.
The U.N. chief on Friday had urged the Taliban to immediately halt their offensive in Afghanistan and negotiate “in good faith” to avert a prolonged civil war. He also said he is “deeply disturbed" by early indications that the Taliban are imposing severe restrictions in the areas under their control, particularly targeting women and journalists.
