Contents tagged with Afghanistan

  • Russian Foreign Ministry says that US Army must leave Afghanistan

    The US military contingent must leave Afghanistan, as Washington’s campaign has proved to be inconclusive, said Zamir Kabulov, Russian Special Envoy for Afghanistan and the Director of the Second Asia Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry.

    "Moscow has never hurried the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan; however, since the US army can not do anything properly, they should leave Afghanistan. The American campaign in Afghanistan has failed. Afghanistan may become a global incubator of …

  • NATO Secretary General: Ukraine promised to support the NATO mission in Afghanistan

    NATO will retain its military presence in Afghanistan after 2017 and strengthen it, as stated by the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance Jens Stoltenberg, on Thursday, following a meeting of NATO Defense Ministers on Afghanistan.

    "We will continue our mission of 'Resolute support' after 2017. Today I can confirm that we will also strengthen our presence," he said, noting that 15 NATO countries committed themselves to increasing their contribution to the mission in Afghanistan. "We …

  • Russia: Unidentified aircraft helping ISIS in Afghanistan

    The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the flights of an unidentified aircraft which provides assistance to ISIS in Afghanistan.

    The ministry drew attention to reports of regular flights of an aircraft without identification marks in various regions of Afghanistan. In particular, the reports contain information about instances where boxes with weapons and other supplies were dropped for ISIS units.

     “This naturally raises a question to the above-mentioned representatives of NATO …

  • NATO considers expanding its mission in Afghanistan

    NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced a possible expansion of Resolute Support mission within NATO. He spoke about this in an interview with the newspaper Welt am Sonntag published on Sunday, April 30. According to him, some members of the alliance advocate that the mission should be extended not once a year, as now, but once every few years. It is expected that the final decision on these issues will be made in June.

    Mission "Resolute Support" started in early 2015, replacing a 13- …

  • Ukraine intends to prove that Russia supplies weapons to the Taliban

    Washington's allegations that Russia is supplying arms to the Taliban are unprofessional, and there are no grounds for such assertions. So says Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, as reported by RIA Novosti.

    “As for the allegations of supplying arms to the Taliban, which come from the military in Washington and from the military that is leading the US group in the region, including Afghanistan under the command of General Nicholson, they are unprofessional statements and have no basis in …

  • Der Spiegel: Thousands of Afghan refugees in Germany claim to belong to Taliban

    Several thousands of refugees from Afghanistan, who have arrived in Germany since 2015, claim that they had contact with the Taliban or fought for the Taliban. The weekly newspaper Der Spiegel reported this on Saturday, April 22, with reference to a letter from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAM) to the German intelligence service.

    The Federal Prosecutor’s Office is examining more than 70 cases, and six people are in investigative isolation, the publication specifies.

    It is …

  • Afghanistan asked Russia for help with providing supplies for its army and police

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan asked Russia to help with training and providing supplies for its army and police, as stated by the Director-General of Policy and Strategy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, Mohammad Ashraf Haidari.

    According to Haidari, after consultations, Kabul invited Moscow "to consider the possibility of providing maintenance support in Afghanistan, as well as material supply and training of personnel for the Afghan army and police."

    The …

  • The U.S. refuses to participate in the conference on Afghanistan in Russia

    According to the US State Department spokesman, Mark Toner, the U.S. does not plan to participate in the conference on Afghanistan that will be held in Moscow on April 14.

    "We do not plan to participate in these regional talks”, said Toner. “I think they’re April 14th, which is tomorrow. They have been organized by the Russian Government," he said.

    At the same time, the representative of the State Department noted that the U.S. supports regional attempts to solve the problems of Afghanistan. …

  • NATO commander suggests that Russia has been helping the Afghan Taliban

    The Supreme Allied Commander of Europe and the Commander of the United States European Command, U.S. Army General Curtis Scaparrotti said that Russia may be helping the Islamist Taliban in Afghanistan, which is fighting against the U.S.-backed government.

    At a hearing in the Senate Committee on Defense Forces, he said he saw evidence that Russia was stepping up efforts to influence the Taliban and, according to him, "perhaps even supply” this group, Radio Liberty reported. The general did not …

  • Putin: Situation in Afghanistan is cause for concern

    The President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, said that the situation in Afghanistan raises serious concerns, so drastic action is needed to deal with terrorism, extremism and drug trafficking, as stated in his interview with RIA Novosti and the Indian news agency IANS.

    "The situation within the territory between India and Russia remains tense. In particular, there remain concerns over the situation in Afghanistan. Drastic actions are needed to help the country to cope with …