As the semi-legitimate government (albeit by seizing control through force of arms) of the Afghan nation, the Taliban are facing an uphill struggle for true legitimacy among their neighbouring countries. Many – I don’t know exactly how many – of those countries, including Russia, still labelling them as a terrorist organisation.
Personally I don’t believe they have ever been terrorists. They are basically farmers, who have sought in times past to protect their means of subsistence and income, and most certainly their religious traditions, from factions who would have forcefully attempted to interfere in some capacity with those aims. At times they took up arms themselves to assist their just defence. If that is a definition of terrorism then every country in the world with armed forces is terrorist. What else but interfering in other folk’s business (including your own folks) would you need an army for?
Thankfully, Russia in recent times, having witnessed the Taliban kick the US terrorists out of their country by making the idea of any further stay there too costly to contemplate (even taking into account the vast profits to be made from selling poppy-crop based drug materials), has gradually worked towards a form of rehabilitation and recognition of the organisation which formed the new Afghani government. While also providing advice, support, and inter-nation trade assistance aimed toward establishing a regional neighbour which could be viewed to be as stable as possible within what is without doubt a still volatile region. Thereby leading the country in a worthwhile direction as a potential partner in the new Eurasian community also being built. Sounds like a good plan to me.
The Taliban, meanwhile, I think grateful for the help from Russia – and most likely from at least some other keen regional neighbours with similar aims – which would have been unthinkable during the period of western terrorist domination, is trying hard to itself establish the conditions for further acceptable Afghan advancement within the region. For example, they are actively fighting remaining IS terrorist groups within their borders. Something US forces never even attempted to do – in fact quite the opposite.
And so, the rewards for effort are slowly coming their way. Read some of that in the following short recent pieces from TASS…
Taliban turn into Moscow’s allies in fight against terrorism — Russian envoy
Contacts between Russia and Taliban grow closer — Ambassador
Russian, Afghan businesses refuse dollar in favor of rubles and Afghani — Ambassador
Almost all opium poppy crops in Afghanistan destroyed — Russian Ambassador
Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan says Taliban ‘pushes’ IS out
Russia focuses on its interests in deciding Taliban’s place in banned organizations list
…and those are all reports from today, July 20.
Of course, such positive activity will undoubtedly result in spreading turmoil as weakened remnants of terrorist groups, not fully destroyed or apprehended, are uprooted and seek to establish themselves elsewhere. Such is forecast and collective plans to deal with those problems are reported in the story below. These problems must end, and I feel sure they will now the indolent west (Indolent suggests a love of ease and a dislike of movement or activity) has been evicted – regionally for now, but from the entire continent eventually.
Terrorism, drug trafficking increasingly likely to spread from Afghanistan — CSTO chief
Not Something Else 
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