Taliban deny talks with Russia on ISIL in Afghanistan

KABUL – Agence France Presse

In this photograph taken on November 3, 2015, Afghan Taliban fighters look on as they listen to Mullah Mohammad Rasool Akhund (unseen), the newly appointed leader of a breakaway faction of the Taliban, at Bakwah in the western province of Farah. AFP Photo

The Taliban have denied they held talks with Russia about countering the spread of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Afghanistan, and dismissed the influence of the jihadist group in the country.  

The insurgents were responding to a Dec. 23 statement by senior Russian diplomat Zamir Kabulov, who said his country was exchanging information with the Taliban about the group.

Kabulov, who is a Kremlin special representative in Afghanistan, said Moscow had a shared interest with the Taliban in counteracting the spread of ISIL.

We “do not see a need for receiving aid from anyone concerning so-called Daesh and neither have we contacted nor talked with anyone about this issue,” the Taliban said in an English-language statement on their website.  Daesh is the Arabic acronym for ISIL. 

ISIL controls large swathes of Syria and Iraq. Fighters in parts of eastern Afghanistan have also proclaimed loyalty to it, challenging the Taliban on their own turf.   

Although there are signs that the popularity of ISIL is growing in Afghanistan, including a radio station that broadcasts ISIL propaganda every morning, the Taliban remain a far more potent force.

The Taliban in their statement played down reports of an ISIL presence.

“Some people in Afghanistan are wrongfully taking advantage of the name Daesh while national and international intelligence are also supporting them with the aim of prolonging the occupation,” they said.  

The Taliban said they had “to a large extent uprooted this project”, which currently had a presence only in a small corner of a single province.