Russia claims 'Kabul safer under Taliban than Ghani govt'; touts its political strength

With Taliban taking over Kabul, Russian ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov on Monday said Taliban had made Kabul safer in the first 24 hours than it had been under the Ghani government. Zhirnov, in a conversation with a Moscow radio station, said that there was looting on the streets as the Ghani regime fell. Soviet Russia had itself tried to defeat the Taliban in 1989, before withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan.

Russia claims 'Kabul safer under Taliban'

"The situation is peaceful and good and everything has calmed down in the city. The situation in Kabul now under the Taliban is better than it was under (President) Ashraf Ghani. Yesterday the regime fell like a house of cards. There was a feeling of disorder, a power vacuum, and looters came out on the streets," said Zhirnov, in a conversation with Moscow's Ekho Moskvy radio station.

Lashing out at US' 'hegemony', Russia alleged that it was due to strengthening political positions of Russia and China. Stating that Russia had foreseen the Taliban takeover, Russian President Vladimir Putin's  special representative on Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said that Russia had been in talks with Taliban for the past seven years. Russia, apart from China and Pakistan has already offered friendly relations with the Taliban government in Afghanistan, inspite of UN imploring nations to not do so.

"The objective reality is that Washington’s comfortable position of U.S. hegemony is receding into the past against the backdrop of the strengthening political positions of Russia and China," the embassy said. Zamir Kabulov, President Vladimir Putin's special representative on Afghanistan added, "It's not for nothing that we've been establishing contacts with the Taliban movement for the last seven years. We saw that this force would in the end if not completely come to power would play a leading role in the future of Afghanistan in any case".

Firing at Kabul airport, several killed

Panic and chaos reigned at Kabul airport as thousands of people attempted to flee from Afghanistan at the earliest on Monday. As per visuals, many civilians were injured on the tarmac as they rushed to get on the plane. At least seven people were killed at Hamid Karzai International airport in Kabul after US troops opened fire, reports local news agency Tolo News. Three people also fell to their death while hanging onto a departing US plane's wheels. Many countries like UK, Germany, Canada and India are preparing for safe evacuation of its nationals from the war-torn nation.

While Taliban has taken over Kabul, 6000-strong US military is currently taken control of the airport's perimeter overseeing evacuation. Ex-Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani has already fled to Tajikistan along with several ministers while ex-Presidents Abdullah Abdullah and Hamid Karzai are left to handle a 'smooth transition'.  According to reports, the Afghan airspace has been shut amid firing, with all commercial and military flights being suspended. The Taliban took over Kabul on Sunday after major cities like Kandahar, Herat,  Mazar-e-Sharif, Jalalabad and Lashkar Gah fell without resistance as US troops retreat after 20 years from war-torn Afghanistan.