Taliban Says it Controls Most of Afghanistan, Reassures Russia

Members of Taliban political office Abdul Latif Mansoor (L), Shahabuddin Delawar (C) and Suhail Shaheen attend a news conference in Moscow, Russia July 9, 2021. (Reuters)
Members of Taliban political office Abdul Latif Mansoor (L), Shahabuddin Delawar (C) and Suhail Shaheen attend a news conference in Moscow, Russia July 9, 2021. (Reuters)
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Taliban Says it Controls Most of Afghanistan, Reassures Russia

Members of Taliban political office Abdul Latif Mansoor (L), Shahabuddin Delawar (C) and Suhail Shaheen attend a news conference in Moscow, Russia July 9, 2021. (Reuters)
Members of Taliban political office Abdul Latif Mansoor (L), Shahabuddin Delawar (C) and Suhail Shaheen attend a news conference in Moscow, Russia July 9, 2021. (Reuters)

A Taliban delegation in Moscow said on Friday that the group controlled over 85% of territory in Afghanistan and reassured Russia it would not allow the country to be used as a platform to attack others.

Foreign forces, including the United States, are withdrawing after almost 20 years of fighting, a move that has emboldened Taliban insurgents to try to gain fresh territory in Afghanistan.

That has prompted hundreds of Afghan security personnel and refugees to flee across the border into neighboring Tajikistan and raised fears in Moscow and other capitals that extremists could infiltrate Central Asia, a region Russia views as its backyard.

At a news conference in Moscow on Friday, three Taliban officials sought to signal that they did not pose a threat to the wider region however.

The officials said the Taliban would do all it could to prevent ISIS operating on Afghan territory and that it would also seek to wipe out drug production.

“We will take all measures so that Islamic State will not operate on Afghan territory... and our territory will never be used against our neighbors,” Taliban official Shahabuddin Delawar said through a translator.

The same delegation said a day earlier that the group would not attack the Tajik-Afghan border, the fate of which is in focus in Russia and Central Asia.

Moscow has noted a sharp increase in tensions on the same border, two thirds of which the Taliban currently controls, the Interfax news agency cited Russia’s foreign ministry as saying on Friday.

Russia’s foreign ministry called on all sides of the Afghanistan conflict to show restraint and said that Russia and the Moscow-led CSTO military bloc would act decisively to prevent aggression on the border if necessary, RIA reported.

The Taliban delegation told the same news conference that the group would respect the rights of ethnic minorities and all Afghan citizens should have the right to a decent education in the framework of religious law and Afghan traditions.

“We want all representatives of Afghan society ... to take part in creating an Afghan state,” said Delawar.



27 Inmates are Still at Large Following an Israeli Airstrike during the 12-day War, Iran says

In this photo taken Tuesday, June 24, 2025, rescuers search through the rubble of a damaged section of Evin Prison following an Israeli strike the day before, in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Mostafa Roudaki/Mizan News Agency)
In this photo taken Tuesday, June 24, 2025, rescuers search through the rubble of a damaged section of Evin Prison following an Israeli strike the day before, in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Mostafa Roudaki/Mizan News Agency)
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27 Inmates are Still at Large Following an Israeli Airstrike during the 12-day War, Iran says

In this photo taken Tuesday, June 24, 2025, rescuers search through the rubble of a damaged section of Evin Prison following an Israeli strike the day before, in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Mostafa Roudaki/Mizan News Agency)
In this photo taken Tuesday, June 24, 2025, rescuers search through the rubble of a damaged section of Evin Prison following an Israeli strike the day before, in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Mostafa Roudaki/Mizan News Agency)

Iran said Tuesday 27 inmates were still at large after an Israeli airstrike last month targeted Evin prison in the north of the capital, Tehran, local media reported.

The airstrikes were part of Israel’s 12-day bombardment of Iran that killed about 1,100 people. while 28 were left dead in Israel in Iranian retaliatory strikes, The Associated Press said.

Judiciary’s news website, Mizanonline, quoted spokesman Asghar Jahangir as saying 75 prisoners had escaped following the strike, of which 48 were either recaptured or voluntarily returned. He said authorities will detain the others if they don't hand themselves over.

Jahangir said the escapees were prisoners doing time for minor offenses.

Iranian officials said the Israeli strike killed 71 people, but local media reported earlier in July that 80 were left dead at the time, including prison staff, soldiers, inmates and visiting family members. Authorities also said five inmates died.

It’s unclear why Israel targeted the prison. The Israeli Defense Ministry had said that 50 aircraft dropped 100 munitions on military targets “based on high-quality and accurate intelligence from the Intelligence Branch.”

The New York-based Center for Human Rights had criticized Israel for striking the prison, seen as a symbol of repression of any opposition, saying it violated the principle of distinction between civilian and military targets.