A senior Russian diplomat said the Taliban paramilitary movement is “flawlessly” honoring the terms of the 2020 peace agreement with the United States to end the war in Afghanistan, and urged Washington not to abandon its commitments.
Zamir Kabulov, the Russian presidential envoy to Afghanistan, made such a statement at the NATO conference, which participants considered the issue of meeting the deadline for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan, agreed with the Taliban: May 1, 2021. Kabulov added that the number of attacks by the Taliban continues to grow.
The meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels comes amid growing accusations against the Taliban of serious violations of the pact concluded with the United States on February 29, 2020: the Taliban continue to carry out violence and do not sever ties with international terrorist organizations.
A report by the US Department of Defense, which was released on Wednesday, said the Taliban continue to maintain ties with the al-Qaeda terrorist group.
“The Taliban continue to maintain relations with Al Qaeda … [террористической группы] have been integrated into the Taliban’s combat forces and command structures, ”said Acting Inspector General of the Defense Department, Sean O’Donnell.
On Monday, the UN mission in Afghanistan released a report that points to a sharp increase in the number of killings of Afghan human rights defenders and journalists in recent months.
The Taliban have denied any involvement in the killings, but Afghan officials blame the Taliban for the crimes, and independent observers have called the group’s arguments “unconvincing.”
“The violence perpetrated by the Taliban is far beyond normal levels,” General Scott Miller, head of the US military and NATO non-combat mission Resolute Support, told Reuters in an interview. According to Miller, all this does not help in achieving the goal of ending the war in Afghanistan.
The rise in Taliban violence prompted the administration of President Joe Biden to renegotiate the terms of the deal with the Taliban before finally deciding on the full withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. At the moment, 2,500 American soldiers are serving in the country.
