Russia is in the process of removing the Taliban‘s designation as a terrorist organization and is calling on the West to lift its sanctions on Afghanistan, which is currently under Taliban control. Alexander Bortnikov, director of the Russian Federal Security Service, made this announcement during a meeting of national security chiefs from former Soviet states in Astana, Kazakhstan. The decision to remove the Taliban from the list of designated terrorist organizations is due to their rivalry with ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K), a prominent terrorist faction operating in eastern Afghanistan. ISIS-K has expressed its goal of establishing an Islamic caliphate across West and Central Asia.
ISIS-K recently claimed responsibility for a devastating attack at a concert hall in Moscow, where four attackers opened fire and threw grenades into the crowd, resulting in 145 deaths and numerous injuries. While Ukraine was officially blamed by the Kremlin for this attack, Russia has been seeking cooperation from Kabul to combat ISIS-K.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also praised the Taliban’s efforts to combat terrorism during his meeting with Afghan counterpart Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi. The conflict between ISIS-K and the Taliban continues following the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in 2021.
Afghanistan currently faces severe famine conditions, with over half of its population relying on humanitarian aid for survival. Although sanctions imposed by Western countries do not hinder aid delivery, overall assistance has decreased as donors have reduced their contributions due to these sanctions.
The United Nations and aid groups face challenges sending money into Afghanistan because its Central Bank cannot access its assets held in foreign accounts or engage with international banking systems. Western central banks and institutions do not recognize any current Afghan banker’s credentials.
The Biden administration does not plan to release over $7 billion worth of frozen Afghan government funds held in US bank accounts since August 15th when Kabul fell under Taliban control.
In February 2022, President Joe Biden consolidated these frozen assets into a single account but pledged only half would be used for victims of September 11th attacks while setting aside remaining funds for humanitarian aid purposes within Afghanistan.
