MOSCOW, August 17. /TASS/. The Taliban (outlawed in Russia) have caught 130 looters and are taking efforts to prevent pillaging amid the general political destabilization in the country, Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov said on Tuesday.
"The most serious problem here is looters, criminals," he said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel. "They (the Taliban) yesterday caught 130 looters. They have zero tolerance for looters. They are tough on criminals in general, up to execution. Whether they be sex offenders or thieves, let alone armed robbery. They are very tough on them and, probably, it has an effect."
The Russian diplomat admitted he did not think it would take that little time to restore order in the country. "My forecast was wrong. I thought it would take a week or ten days to calm down the situation. But as soon as they [the Taliban] entered the city, everything calmed down," he said.
After the United States announced the end of its armed operation in Afghanistan and began to withdraw its troops, the Taliban launched a large-scale offensive on the government army and by August 15 entered Kabul after meeting no resistance. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said he was resigning to avoid bloodshed and fled the country. Western nations are evacuating their citizens and embassy employees.