Russia Prepares to Remove Taliban from Terrorist List and Invest in Afghanistan’s Infrastructure

A bill has been introduced in the Russian State Duma  that would allow the radical Islamist group Taliban to be removed from Russia’s list of terrorist organizations.

This was stated by the Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs of the interim government of the Taliban movement, Mohammad Abdul Kabir, as reported by Russian state media RIA Novosti.

On November 25, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu visited Afghanistan, where the Taliban seized power in 2021. During his meeting with Taliban representatives, Shoigu announced that the Russian government was moving to the final stage of removing the group from its list of banned organizations.

The Taliban is considered a terrorist organization by many countries, including the United States, the European Union, and others. This designation is primarily due to the group's use of violent tactics, including suicide bombings, assassinations, and attacks on civilians, to achieve its political and religious goals.

Shoigu also stated that Russia was ready to invest in Afghanistan’s infrastructure, including railways, transportation, industry, agriculture, energy, and mining. Additionally, Russia revealed plans to reduce or eliminate tariffs on Afghan goods, as well as to hold a joint business forum and sign a transport cooperation agreement in the future.

The Taliban "highly appreciated" Russia’s support and "welcomed" its planned investments.

Russia's Special Representative for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, had previously mentioned in October that a decision to remove the Taliban from the list of terrorist organizations had been made at the highest level. He added that the Russian Foreign Ministry, along with the FSB  and other agencies, were "completing the legal work" on this process.