Taliban Buy Weapons and Drones from Belarus. India Mediates, Russia Gives Consent — Afghanistan International
The Taliban are buying weapons and drones from Belarus. This was reported by the Afghan opposition TV channel Afghanistan International, citing five former high-ranking officials, including former Afghan security officials.
Afghan Taliban celebrate the fifth anniversary of their new rise to power in 2021. Photo: AP Photo/Nava Jamshidi
According to their data, India acts as a mediator and finances these deals, and Russia has given its consent. This was stated on air by Samsama Sirat, the channel's correspondent in Washington. She recalled that in recent months, visits between Taliban representatives and Belarus have increased.
Sources claim that these contacts began after the visit of Taliban Defense Minister Mullah Yaqoob to Moscow, which took place at the turn of May and June. At that time, he signed a security agreement with Russia. Russian officials, however, stated that the agreement concerns the repair of Russian equipment remaining in Afghanistan.
A person close to the Taliban in Kabul also confirmed to the TV channel that the parties had agreed and that this is happening at Russia's behest and with its coordination.
According to Afghanistan International, the Taliban want drones and weapons to strengthen their defense against Pakistan: relations between the countries have recently escalated. The correspondent emphasizes that Belarus would "under no circumstances" sell military equipment, let alone drones, to the Taliban without Russia's approval.
At the same time, Russia is an ally of Pakistan, and, according to the journalist, it is unlikely to be ready to swap Pakistan for the Taliban. When attacks occur in Pakistan and Islamabad blames groups based in Afghanistan under the Taliban's protection, Moscow condemns these attacks and calls for a joint fight against terrorism. However, Russia has never condemned Pakistani strikes on Afghanistan.
The TV channel recalls that a similar scheme was already in operation under the previous Afghan government. According to a former high-ranking security official from Ashraf Ghani's government, India then bought helicopters from Belarus for the Afghan government. In addition, it repaired some of its own equipment using Belarusian facilities and transferred it to Kabul. According to the source, the Taliban now want to repeat the same scheme through India.
Samsama Sirat also notes that India is the only country that openly supports the Taliban in their confrontation with Pakistan. New Delhi condemns Pakistani strikes on Afghanistan as a violation of its sovereignty and has repeatedly spoken about this at international meetings. The journalist reminds that the former government had international legitimacy thanks to the support of the USA and NATO. The Taliban, however, according to UN Security Council documents, are linked to terrorist groups, so countries supplying them with weapons bear greater responsibility.
Lately, Minsk has been actively developing relations with the Taliban. In August, a 13-person delegation led by the acting Minister of Agriculture of the Taliban, Ataullah Omari, visited Belarus for five days. It participated in the second meeting of the Belarusian-Afghan commission on trade and economic cooperation. According to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban approved the Belarusian ambassador concurrently. The Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine stated that Minsk had lowered its diplomacy "to the level of terrorists."