Moscow (Russia), August 22: There are no demonstrations against the Taliban* in Kabul since the movement has seized control of the capital and majority of Afghanistan, and the life is back to normal, Russian Ambassador Dmitry Zhirnov said Saturday.
"There are no demonstrations against the Taliban," the ambassador said on air of Soloviev Live.
He added that the situation in Kabul is "fine" for the eighth day in a row, with shops openings and the Taliban taking control of policing in the city.
"Life did not just return to normal. Fact of the matter is, there was no normal before the Taliban, because Daesh* was operating in Kabul. In fact, before the Taliban, Kabul turned into an Daesh playground," the Russian diplomat noted.
Zhirnov also said that he met with a high-ranking Taliban official earlier in the day, and that the movement showed interest in a peaceful and political solution to the current crisis. He added that the Taliban representative asked Russian diplomats to convey to the resistance forces in the Panjshir Gorge, led by the first vice-president of Afghanistan, Amrullah Saleh, that the Taliban want to avoid bloodshed and would like to reach a political agreement with them.
The Taliban entered Kabul on August 15, ending a weeks-long offensive and resulting in the collapse of the US-backed government. President Ashraf Ghani resigned and left the country. The seizure of power has forced thousands of Afghans to seek escape from the country for fear of reprisals from the militants.
Currently, Panjshir is the epicenter of the Afghan resistance against the Taliban. Saleh and the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan are reportedly concentrating their forces in the province to defy the militants. The resistance forces have already recaptured the Charikar area in the Parwan Province north of Kabul.
Source: Sputnik