The Taliban authorities tried to reassure Moscow, one of their rare supporters within the international community, after the attack perpetrated by IS near the Russian diplomatic mission, of which two employees were killed.
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Two days after the suicide attack perpetrated on Monday September 5, at the end of the morning, against the Russian embassy, in Kabul, the tension was still palpable in the ranks of Taliban power, which was trying to reassure the One of its rare supporters within the international community on its ability to guarantee security in the Afghan capital. Two Russian employees and four Afghans lost their lives after an assailant triggered an explosive device around the diplomatic mission. A dozen people were also injured, according to the authorities.
Tuesday, the Islamic State Organization (IS) claimed, in a press release published on Telegram, the order given to one of its fighters “to activate its explosive belt during a rally attended by employees Russians “, near the embassy. This first attack on a diplomatic representation since the return of the Taliban in power, on August 15, 2021, marked the emergence of a new IS strategy in Afghanistan. Until then, it targeted places and people for denominational reasons, or Taliban during clashes in the provinces.
By this new attack, according to a UN diplomat stationed in Afghanistan, ISC signals his intention to disrupt relations between the Afghan Islamist regime and governments having supported the new masters of Kabul. Even if Russia has still not recognized the Taliban government – North Korea is the only country to have done -, Moscow has multiplied the declarations in favor of the lifting of sanctions targeting the Taliban regime and their integration into the breast of the international community.
Europe and the UN worried
The spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry, Abdul Nafi Takor, informed the local press that the suicide bomber had been shot by Taliban guards “before having been able to reach his target”, without providing details. The Minister of Foreign Affairs Taliban, Mullah Amir Khan Muttaqi, spoke with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, and assured him that “all security measures would be taken to guarantee the security of the embassy”. He added that “the authorities will not allow enemies to sabotage relations between the two countries by such actions”.
Tuesday, the avenue bordering the premises of the Russian embassy was partly barred and many Taliban guards prohibited access to the public and the press. The concern is now real on the safety of the rare enclaves occupied by foreign representations. The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, “firmly” condemned the attack and expressed condolences to families also thinking of the protection of the personnel of the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan.
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