Britain keeps special forces after the withdrawal is completed.. Russia: What is happening in Afghanistan is destabilizing

Russia said that the situation in Afghanistan is worrying and developing in a destabilizing way, and expressed its readiness to support Tajikistan to protect its borders with Afghanistan after the Taliban movement took control of the Afghan-Tajik border areas. For its part, Britain announced that it would keep special forces after the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan.

The Russian Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, criticized the destabilization in Afghanistan due to the withdrawal of America and its allies from the country, which is expected to be completed next September.

In response to a question whether Moscow will send additional forces to support its forces stationed in Tajikistan, Peskov said that this is a matter for the army and border guards to decide, but he stressed that his country would not send troops to Afghanistan.

Russia operates a military base in Tajikistan, a former Soviet republic.

The Kremlin said that President Vladimir Putin expressed to his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahman his readiness to provide support to face developments on the border with Afghanistan, after more than a thousand Afghan soldiers fled across the border with Tajikistan, fearing for their lives, after the Taliban took control of more lands in the Afghan border province of Badakhshan.

Soldiers fleeing

The media office of the Tajik Frontier Guard said today that 1,037 Afghan soldiers fled to Tajikistan after clashes with Taliban elements in Badakhshan, in the north of the country, adding that these attacks resulted in the Taliban fighters' control, late on Sunday, of the provinces of Khohan, Shekai, Nasay, and Mamai. , Sheghnan, Sultan of Ishkashem in the state bordering Tajikistan.

Helmand: The Nawa Directorate with all its annexes fell into the hands of the Mujahideen pic.twitter.com/r257pDdhI5

— Islamic Emirate (@alemara_ar) July 5, 2021

The same statement made it clear that the Tajik border guards adhered to the principles of humanitarianism and good neighborliness, and allowed Afghan soldiers to cross the border without any hindrance.

The Tajik president said yesterday in a phone call with his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani that he was concerned about the tensions in the border area.

Moscow visit

In a related context, Afghan National Security Adviser Hamdullah Muhib is visiting Moscow today to hold talks with senior security officials, and said in a statement to the RIA news agency that the government forces intend to launch a counterattack in the northern provinces of the country to restore the areas controlled by the Taliban.

The Afghan official described the Taliban's control of border areas in the north of the country as very worrying and dangerous.

These few weeks, the Taliban militants are achieving more field gains in the north and south of the country, as they took control of a number of areas and significantly intensified their campaign before the complete withdrawal of US forces.

Al-Jazeera correspondent in Kabul, Nasser Shedeed, said that the government forces launched 3 raids targeting Taliban fighters in the Fara area, killing 35 members of the movement, another in Sari Pul that killed 22 people, and a third raid in Nawa district in Helmand province, after the Taliban attempted to advance towards a military base for government forces It killed more than 30 elements of the movement.

10 #Taliban terrorists were killed and 4 others were wounded in #airstrikes conducted by #AAF in Dawlat Abad district of #Balkh province, yesterday.

pic.twitter.com/OthjznrSpk

— Ministry of Defense, Afghanistan (@MoDAfghanistan) July 5, 2021

On the other hand, Anadolu Agency reported that 11 Afghan soldiers were killed today in a Taliban attack in Herat province in the north of the country. In addition, 10 Taliban militants were killed.

For his part, Afghan Parliament Speaker Mir Rahman said that the Taliban's control of a number of districts is a dangerous precedent that must be addressed, and he called on the movement to preserve government buildings and infrastructure as owned by the people and not the government, as he put it.

British forces

On the other hand, an Afghan government source said that the British special forces announced that they would keep some of their personnel in the country to follow up on the security situation after the completion of the withdrawal of US forces and the forces of the rest of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

In the same context, a source in NATO confirmed to Al-Jazeera that the alliance will not set specific dates for the end of the process of withdrawing its forces from Afghanistan, and added that it will be in an organized and coordinated manner based on the decision of the defense and foreign ministers of the alliance taken on April 14 last, indicating that the protection of the alliance forces is currently Of paramount importance given the rapid progress of the Taliban movement in a number of parts of the country

This source confirmed that the training and financial support of the Afghan military and security forces will continue in parallel with reducing the military presence of the Alliance, in addition to maintaining the diplomatic presence and ensuring the continuation of the work of the international airport in Kabul.

Clashes between the Afghan security forces and the Taliban are escalating, at a time when the withdrawal of foreign forces from the country has continued since last May, as the US withdrawal is scheduled to be completed by September 11, according to President Joe Biden.