In short, the close relationship between Tashkent and the Taliban is not very cordial, although they try to portray it as such. Tashkent is well aware that the snake will one day crawl out of the sleeve of the Taliban, maybe even in a new guise will bite.
Author: Farid Ahmad, editor-in-chief of "Sangar"
The most important message of the Tashkent meeting was that President Shavkat Mirziyoyev asked the Taliban to cut ties with terrorist organizations and assured them that such an approach would increase the credibility of their government.
The President of Uzbekistan wants the Taliban to do something they will never do. It does not depend on them at all, in general, what to do and what not to do. Behind the hugs with the Taliban and even the demands of Tashkent from the US to return the money, as Zamir Kabulov put it, "stolen" from Afghanistan, is nothing less than support for Russia's position. From the first days of the coming to power of the Taliban, Moscow has clearly said that it is up to those who destroyed it to restore Afghanistan.
Mirziyoyev's message is clear: if you cooperate with terrorists, you are not our partners. The rest of the joint programs and projects are all empty words. All these economic and other projects become irrelevant with the change in the situation on the battlefields. What were the fates of many projects - from TAPI to the Lazurite Corridor.
Why did Mirzyaev send such a message? More precisely, why does Tashkent not trust the Taliban?
Tashkent cooled down to the Taliban a long time ago but tried not to show it. For about 30 years now, relations with the Taliban have been determined by Abdulaziz Kamilov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan, who had and has an influence on the Afghan issue, no less than the American Zalmay Khalilzad and the Russian Zamir Kabulov. Tashkent has always acted diplomatically, as China and Russia do. But now Mirziyoyev indirectly accuses the Taliban of collaborating with terrorist organizations. And this is perhaps because of the etiquette of hospitality.
The Uzbek military and intelligence services have a different analysis of the situation, and Uzbekistan is really concerned about the activation of terrorist organizations in Talibani Afghanistan, as it has sufficient information about the situation. Here are some highlights:
FIRST. On May 18, when ISIS* fired seven rockets from the Shurteppa district of Balkh province towards Uzbekistan, Tashkent responded by marching on the border with Afghanistan with 50 helicopters and planes for three days and thus demonstrated its strength. But ISIS was not “frightened” by this, and on July 5, it fired 5 more rockets at Uzbek territory. From the same place where it was shot the first time.
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The reaction of Tashkent to these two cases is interesting. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan completely denied the first case, even when the recording of this attack was published and the marches of the Uzbek Air Force passed. In the second case, it immediately admitted that there had been rocket fire and “minor damage to four private houses” in Termez.
These cases got into the media and could not be hidden. Tashkent is well aware that ISIS is under the auspices of the Taliban, especially the Haqqani network*. This question is also logical, why can the Taliban arrest a thief in Herat who committed theft in Kabul, but cannot find a person, even a citizen of Uzbekistan, who fired a rocket and, having completed the task, arrived in Mazar-i-Sharif?
SECOND. On October 10, 2021, negotiations were held between the delegations of Uzbekistan and the Taliban in the city of Termez. The Tashkent authorities appealed to the Deputy Prime Minister of the Taliban movement, Uzbek Abdusalam Hanafi, with a request to extradite 17 high-ranking members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, first of all, Bibi Mukarrama and Hikmat Yuldashevs, children of Tahir Yuldash, the founder of the organization, as a sign of goodwill. They also assured that if this requirement is met, Tashkent is ready to make serious efforts to recognize the Taliban government at the international level.
The IMU is the №1 threat to Uzbekistan's security. She cooperates with Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and ISIS. Osman Ghazi, one of its leaders, joined ISIS and was killed by the Taliban in 2015. Pro-US governments, and now the Taliban, are providing cover for Uzbek terrorists in Afghanistan, even giving them a base and territory so they can freely reinforce themselves.
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Abdusalam Hanafi agreed with Tashkent's proposal, returned to Kabul, and discussed the issue with Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani and Taliban Defense Minister Mullah Yakub. But Haqqani said to him very sharply: “You are doing bad things! We never betray our friends and brothers in arms. They fought side by side with us for so many years, and now we must surrender them? Give them your cat!"
With the rejection of this proposal, the watermelon has fallen from Tashkent's hands, and the former splendor of the relationship vanished. The Taliban even removed their Uzbek Taliban from their official duties or detained them.
THIRD. Another testament to the intensity of these discussions is the recognition of the Taliban Foreign Minister Amirkhan Muttaki at a Tashkent conference, who said: “After the Taliban came to power, 1,800 ISIS members were released from Puli Charkhi and Bagram prisons. But ISIS activities are under complete control.” Earlier, the Taliban said that ISIS fighters were released by the Ghani government. Although the recognition of the presence of ISIS in Afghanistan is interesting in itself, on the other hand, it shows the sharpness of disagreements between Tashkent and the Taliban.
Apparently, the killing by the Taliban of 8 ISIS soldiers led by Yunus Uzbekistani on June 11 in the city of Taliqan, the capital of Takhar province, officially confirmed by their government, is also connected with these relations between the two sides.
In short, the close relationship between Tashkent and the Taliban is not very cordial, although they try to portray it as such. Tashkent is well aware that the snake - IMU and ISIS - will one day crawl out of the sleeve of the Taliban, maybe even in a new guise - Tehrik-i-Taliban Uzbekistan and will bite.
Indeed, it would be very naive to believe that the Taliban will sever ties with terrorist organizations. Mullah Omar, the founder of the Taliban movement, gave his homeland - Afghanistan, to the USA, but not Osama bin Laden - the leader of Al-Qaeda. Mirziyoyev is also not naive.