Invitation To Taliban For BRICS Meet Depends On Agreement Of Member States, Says Kabulov

The ruling was issued after reviewing the cases of two Afghan women whose asylum applications in Austria had been rejected.

The European Union's Supreme Court in Brussels, on Friday, October 4, during the review of the cases of two Afghan women whose asylum applications were rejected by the Austrian Migration Agency in 2015 and 2020, announced that "there is no need to prove persecution in the country of origin in order to accept Afghan women's asylum applications”.

The court ruled that only being a woman was enough to accept the application.

Reuters news agency reported that one of the women had resided in Iran without legal documents before entering Austria and that her father (an addict) had intended to sell her to pay for his addiction.

Also, according to the Geneva Convention, European countries do not deport asylum seekers who have been persecuted in their country of origin. Earlier, some European countries had announced that Afghan women's asylum applications would be accepted because of their gender. Courts in France and countries such as Sweden and Denmark have also announced similar policies.

"We are cooperating with some countries and sometimes we share information with them," Mujahid added.

According to AFP, a 2023 UN Security Council report stated that the Taliban has secretly asked for intelligence and logistical support to counter ISIS.

According to the report, the Taliban has presented themselves as "a counter-terrorism partner". Following the withdrawal of US-led forces from Afghanistan, the Taliban has declared security as their highest priority.

Despite the possession of military equipment left over from the United States, analysts are sceptical of the Taliban's ability to fully counter ISIS due to information technology limitations.

American analyst Aaron Zelin has emphasised that between March 2023 and March 2024, ISIS was able to plan 21 international attacks in nine countries, indicating an increase in the group's threats compared to the previous year.

In recent months, ISIS has claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in Afghanistan, Russia and Iran.

General Michael Kurilla, the commander of US forces in the Middle East, has also warned that ISIS in Afghanistan could target US and other Western interests.

Muttaqi called on the countries of the region not to allow ISIS to recruit their nationals and send them to Afghanistan and other countries for destructive purposes.

The Taliban official claimed that most of ISIS' attacks in Afghanistan are carried out by foreign nationals.

Taliban officials have repeatedly claimed that ISIS does not exist in Afghanistan. Yet ISIS-K continues to claim responsibility for deadly attacks in Afghanistan.

The Taliban's foreign minister headed a delegation to Moscow and participated in the sixth meeting of the Moscow Consultative Format.

Although Russia recognises the Taliban as a terrorist group, it has diplomatic relations with the group.

The Taliban's foreign minister said at the Moscow consultative format meeting that the group expects the level of diplomatic relations with Russia to increase.

Ahead of Amir Khan Muttaqi's speech, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the Moscow Consultative Format meeting that various terrorist groups are still present in Afghanistan and carry out attacks outside the country. At the same time, he called for assistance to Afghanistan in the fight against terrorism.

Meanwhile, the head of Russia's security agency, Alexander Bortnikov, spoke at a meeting of the heads of the security and intelligence services of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Bishkek on Friday about the terrorist threats from Afghanistan. He also said that in order to fight ISIS-K and other jihadist groups based in Afghanistan, it is better to communicate with the Taliban.

However, Muttaqi called the claims of officials of regional countries about the presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan "incorrect" and asked them not to look at Afghanistan through the lens of "foreigners”.

Bortnikov said that it would be better to reach out to the Taliban to fight ISIS-K and other jihadist groups based in Afghanistan.

This comes as Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko announced about two weeks ago that the process of removing the Taliban from the list of terrorist groups "will not be fast”. "The removal of the Taliban from Russia's list of terrorist groups requires changes in the country's laws," he had said.

In an interview with RIA Novosti, Russia's state-run news agency, Andrey Rudenko clarified that the process is not fast because it requires changes in the Russian law.

Zamir Kabulov, Russia's special representative for Afghanistan, announced in June 2024 that the proposal to remove the Taliban's name from the list of terrorist organisations in Russia has been communicated to Vladimir Putin for a final decision. He said that there are still issues related to the Taliban and that a decision will be made after these issues are resolved.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also told reporters during a visit to Tashkent on May 29, 2024, that establishing relations with the Taliban is another question, but we must communicate with them somehow.

Putin also mentioned consultations with regional partners, including Central Asian countries, on relations with the Taliban, saying, "We take into account the views of each of our partners and friends and will coordinate on this issue."

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported on Friday (October 4) that Alexander Bortnikov spoke about Afghanistan and the Taliban at a meeting of the heads of the security and intelligence services of the CIS countries in Bishkek. At the meeting, he emphasised on the cooperation between the security agencies of the participating countries.

Referring to the recent terrorist attack at Moscow's Crocus Hall, Alexander Bortnikov said that ISIS-K is a threat to Russia and the countries of the region. "It is known with certainty that the perpetrators of this terrorist attack were members of Khorasan Province and were purposefully operating among Tajik migrants in Russia via the internet while they were physically in Afghanistan," he added.

Sergey Lavrov called on his allies to be vigilant about the fact that the United States wants to use the United Nations for this purpose.

"In this regard, I want to be vigilant against the efforts of the United States and its allies to involve themselves in the settlement processes in order to control them, including using the authority of the United Nations for these nefarious purposes," he added.

Lavrov said that Afghanistan still has numerous problems and that Russia is working steadily to solve these problems. The Russian diplomat said that for this purpose, the country is developing the Moscow format and the mechanisms of meetings of neighbouring countries.

"We are convinced that these regional mechanisms can achieve the most important results by combining their efforts," Lavrov stressed.

Various terrorist groups in Afghanistan

In another part of his speech, the Russian Foreign Minister said that various terrorist groups are still present in Afghanistan and carry out attacks outside the country.

At the same time, he called for assistance to Afghanistan in the fight against terrorism.

Emphasis on continuing talks

Sergey Lavrov added, "Moscow is in favour of pragmatic dialogue with Kabul.”

The Russian Foreign Minister explained: "We believe that pragmatic dialogue with the Taliban should be maintained as constructive interaction with Afghan partners will secure the security interests and economic development of the region, as well as the goals of intra-Afghan national coordination."

He also said that Russia supports the Taliban's actions to stop terrorist threats in the region.

The 6th Moscow Format Meeting on Afghanistan began on Friday morning, October 4. Representatives of Russia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and the Taliban are attending the meeting. The main part of the meeting will be held behind closed doors.

A joint statement is expected to be issued after the meeting.