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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov
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Alexander Zemlianichenko/dpa
Less than two weeks after the Islamic State terrorist attack in Moscow, Russia says it wants to remove the Afghan Taliban from its list of banned terrorist organizations. Afghanistan is a country that is close to Russia, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the press in Moscow.
According to Peskov, the Taliban are effectively in control of Afghanistan. The Russian government communicates with the radical Islamists “like practically everyone else” does. For Russia there are pressing problems to be solved with the Taliban. “This also requires dialogue,” emphasized Peskov. He left open what specific questions were involved. The Afghan branch of the “Islamic State,” ISPK, recently claimed responsibility for the attack on a concert hall near Moscow.
More than 140 people died in the attack by gunmen. The USA and France confirmed, citing intelligence information, that the “IS” branch from Afghanistan was behind the crime. However, Russia has stated that a connection to Ukraine is also being investigated, which the government in Kiev categorically rejects. The Taliban came back to power in Afghanistan in 2021. However, they are still on the list of organizations in Russia that are classified as terrorist.
col/Reuters