I already spoke about the possibility of Russia removing the Taliban from the list of banned organizations in Russia. Such a draft law has been registered in the Duma and will be adopted before the New Year.
Today, Shoigu met with the head of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, Sirajuddin Haqqani. He was previously the most wanted member of the Taliban organization. The meeting is taking place in Kabul.
What could this news indicate?
On the international front, the Taliban is cooperating with China on mineral development, processing, infrastructure, and even specific types of tourism.
Moreover, the Taliban is curbing the development of Uyghur military formations within its territory, which are actively supported by the West (the threat of Uyghur separatism in China).
The Taliban has also expressed interest in sending its forces to fight against Israel and asked Iran for a corridor to do so.
Tehran predictably refused: in Afghanistan, the majority are Sunni Muslims, while in Iran, the majority are Shiites, and relations between the two countries are quite complicated.
Additionally, Afghanistan has sharply reduced drug trafficking: opium poppy cultivation and opium production have been cut by several times. This is a deliberate policy of the Taliban, as they implemented it in the early 2000s.
However, the Taliban has 40-50 thousand fighters who know how to do nothing but fight.
It is very likely that this is what the discussion is about – the involvement of the Taliban in Russia's war against Ukraine.
The Taliban could also sell this to their own people as a "holy war against the West."
They will not concern themselves with the specific details of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
The prolonged war of Israel in Gaza and Lebanon has seriously electrified the radical Muslim community: from Arabs to Turks and Pashtuns, from Sunnis to Shiites.
In this context, when the American flag acts as a strong irritant for such a society, any association with the West can form the basis for a Ghazwat, a Holy War.
For example, the Houthis attack all ships in the Red Sea that are linked to the West or have even docked in Israeli ports, as recently happened with a Turkish commercial ship.
Moreover, Chechnya under Kadyrov could act as a patron in such cooperation.
In general, there is a good reason to closely monitor news from Afghanistan.
