UPDATE - Ex-Afghan Special Forces Fighting In Ukraine - Russian Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th August, 2022) Part of former Afghan special forces fighters have joined the hostilities in Ukraine on Kiev's side, Zamir Kabulov, the Russian presidential envoy for Afghanistan and the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Second Asian Department, told Sputnik on Tuesday.

A source told Sputnik in mid-March that the United States was preparing the deployment of former Afghan army� soldiers to Ukraine.

"These special forces, some of them join Islamic State (banned in Russia for terrorism) and fight in Iraq and Syria. It is very predictable, in my opinion. We have already discussed that this is a repeat of the Iraq scenario, which resulted in Islamic State's emergence. And the other part of these former special forces, apparently they were promised money as mercenaries because they need to make a living, they join the Ukrainian nazis. But this does not depend on the Taliban (under UN sanctions for terrorism) in any way," Kabulov said.

He cited a Kyrgyz delegate as saying at a recent Afghanistan conference in Uzbekistan that some 110,000 former Afghan special forces had fled the country and were waiting for a permission to enter the United States.

"Apparently, no one is going to give them any permission, which is the absolutely rude manner of the Americans," Kabulov said.

The Taliban have guaranteed that they would not allow the deployment of militants or terrorists to Ukraine, the Russian diplomat said.

"The Taliban have guaranteed that they will not allow (this) within their real capabilities. And they are not talking with a forked tongue," Kabulov said when asked whether Moscow contacted the movement on the matter.

An interim Afghan government led by the Taliban came to power last fall after the withdrawal of US troops from the country and the collapse of the US-backed government. The Taliban takeover triggered economic disarray and food shortages that have pushed the country to the brink of a humanitarian crisis. Thousands of Afghans have fled the country fearful of the Taliban, widespread violation of human rights, and the deprivation of women and girls of their freedoms.