Will the Russian president give the green light to the National Resistance Front?
Author: Farid Ahmad, editor-in-chief of "Sangar"
Russia is deeply concerned about the rapidly changing political and military climate in Afghanistan. A few days ago, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu expressed deep concern over the increased activity of international terrorist organizations in Afghanistan. The next day, for the first time in history, a meeting of the defense ministers of the countries of Central Asia and Russia was held in this format, and the only issue was the intensification of the activities of terrorist organizations in Afghanistan.
It is not known what was agreed upon at these meetings. The military, as usual, should act, not talk. Russia also focused on the situation in Afghanistan during the BRICS meeting. In recent days, Moscow has been referring more seriously to Afghanistan than to Ukraine.
These concerns are justified. The United States, the power that handed Afghanistan over to terrorist organizations, has opened a new chapter in its Afghan policy and is looking to make a comeback. Tom West, the successor to Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan, is working to create an “inclusive government” in Afghanistan. Those who come to Kabul today are proteges of the US partner countries in this plan. Another move by the US is to engage anti-Taliban leaders based in Turkey, the UAE, and Europe, who have gathered in the Supreme Resistance Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan. Some groups in the US have declared their support for the Afghan National Resistance Front in order to include the main opponents of the Taliban in this American project.
On the other hand, the United States agreed to fix Afghanistan's banking system. This is not a new step. Washington secretly transfers $34 million a month to the National Bank of Afghanistan. Donations from international and charitable organizations to the Taliban government are also made with the consent of Washington. Afghanistan, or the Taliban, has about $10 billion of frozen money in US and European banks. The money will be given to the Taliban, or they are already on the way, but what to get in return? One condition is certain: stay away from Russia and China and cooperate with the United States. What is this cooperation? Support for terrorist organizations, primarily ISIS, which have fully settled in northern Afghanistan. There is little time left for them to take the stage in full bloom.
In a word, Russia's reaction coming in time. Russia's paths with the Taliban diverged after the signing of the Doha agreement between them and the United States. The diplomatic embrace of the team of Zamir Kabulov, Russia's special envoy to Afghanistan with the Taliban, is also deceptive for stalling time. The Russian military, which has never reconciled and will never reconcile with the Taliban and their radical Islam in the style of Al-Qaeda and ISIS, has its own vision of the situation. They have all the documents and evidence and follow the movements of these organizations under the auspices of the Taliban. Their conclusion is that the US is once again trying to finalize with the help of the Taliban the same plan to create a large terrorist army against Russia and China in Afghanistan. This is the main mission of the Taliban, and that is why the reins of government were given to them. The US is returning not for “inclusive government” and “peace and stability” in Afghanistan, but because of another war with Russia and China.
Shaigu's concerns mean the Russian military has run out of patience. Moscow has come to the conclusion that it is no longer possible to delay.
The Balkhab war added fuel to the fire of Russia's anxiety. Iran was believed to be behind Mawlawi Mahdi Mujahid, the leader of the Balkhab resistance who stood up for the rights of the Shiite Hazaras and called on the Shiites for help. But Iran's special representative for Afghanistan, Hassan Kazemi Komi, called the Balkhab war "an American provocation." There is reliable information from Balkhab that a significant number of resistance fighters have installed a republican flag on their motorcycles. It is not surprising that the Americans infiltrated the Mahdi forces in the form of the former military of the republic, but the Hazara Mahdi, like the Tajik Ahmad Masoud, leader of the National Resistance Front, can never be a US ally. Their choice is the Pashtun Taliban. Apparently, Iran's outrage, if not a game of intelligence and diplomacy, is caused by the fear of being deprived of influence over the Shiite Hazaras, who over the past 40 years, contrary to their interests, have turned into tools of Iranian policy in Afghanistan.
Virtually all anti-Taliban resistance is on the side of Russia in the "Great Game" in Afghanistan. Perhaps the Russians were waiting for such a day.
Under such circumstances, Dushanbe will visit Russian President Vladimir Putin, one of the most powerful figures in the modern world. This is his first trip abroad since the "Russian special operation in Ukraine", which could be a good omen for the Afghan resistance. Russia returns to Afghanistan.
But is Putin giving the green light to the National Resistance Front? The answer to this historical question will be given during this historical visit.