Russia, which no longer denies its engagement with the Taliban jihadists fighting American service members and the Islamic State, recently expressed dismay towards the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan.
In an exclusive interview, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency asked Zamir Kabulov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy to Afghanistan, whether he finds the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan “disturbing.”
The Russian official responded:
Of course; why should it not be disturbing for anybody? Why in Afghanistan? Where is Afghanistan and where is America!? If we did something like that in Mexico, would it not be disturbing for America? In Cuba, we have already experienced and we know the outcome. I think it is old fashioned.Why are they doing that after all this 15-year-old anti-terror rhetoric in Afghanistan? They stupidly try to say that ‘it is for training.’Come on! You are not talking to stupid or foolish people. We know the reasons [for the ongoing U.S. military presence in Afghanistan]. Russia will never tolerate this.
Late last year, an unnamed Taliban official told Reuters that the jihadist group has maintained “significant contacts” with Russia since at least 2007. READ MORE
