MOSCOW, August 30. /TASS/. Russia hopes that the military hardware the US military has abandoned in Afghanistan will not be used in another civil war, Russia's special presidential representative for Afghanistan, director of the Foreign Ministry's second Asian department, Zamir Kabulov, said on the Rossiya-24 round-the-clock television news channel.

"I hope that the weapons the Americans have abandoned will not be used for further civil war, which fortunately has come in an end in Afghanistan. But we should give thought to what happens to this military hardware in the future," he said.

Kabulov warned the West should by no means create hindrances to normalization in the country.

"If our Western counterparts are truly concerned about the future of the Afghan people, they should by no means create additional problems, such as a freeze on the gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Afghan state, being kept in US banks. Humanitarian corridors for providing aide to the population must be created," he added. "If this fails to be done and further pressure is the tactic of choice, the likely effects they will achieve will most probably look as follows: further production, export and illegal trafficking of opiates. Also, there will apparently be a great demand for this military hardware on the black market. The new authorities will face a great temptation to make money on it."

On April 14, US President Joe Biden declared his decision to curtail the operation in Afghanistan. The Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia) promptly launched a large-scale offensive operation to establish control of the country. Its forces entered Kabul on August 15 without encountering any resistance and had the city under control within a matter of hours.

Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani left the country. Vice-President Amrullah Saleh said that under the Constitution he was to perform the duties of the head of state and called for armed resistance to the Taliban. Ahmad Massoud, son of a powerful guerilla commander Ahmad Shah Massoud (1953-2001) in Panjshir province, declared he would spearhead resistance. The Western countries have been evacuating their citizens and embassy staffers. Britain last weekend completed the evacuation of its personnel and many Afghans who provided assistance to it over the past 20 years.