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Situation calm in Kabul for eight days — Russian ambassador

Dmitry Zhirnov has said that he does not believe in the expansion of the radical Taliban movement to other countries

MOSCOW, August 21. /TASS/. Russia’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov has said that he does not believe in the expansion of the radical Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia) to other countries.

"I do not believe in it (the expansion - TASS). I do not believe that they will go [to other countries]. They have too much to do at home. The country is destroyed," he said on the YouTube channel Solovyev Live on Saturday when asked if expansion was part of the Taliban’s plans.

The situation has been calm in Kabul for eight days, Russia’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov said on the YouTube channel Solovyev Live on Saturday.

"It has been good for the eighth day in a row. Today we went out to the city to see it with our own eyes. We found out that it is true," he said.

The ambassador added that there have been no demonstrations against the Taliban (banned in Russia) in the Afghan capital.

The United States has not yet been able to bring order to Kabul’s airport and there are no flights.

"That is why we are deciding now how to help the Afghans with Russian citizenship to fly to Russia. It is not evacuation, those are their planned trips. The other thing is, naturally, they are nervous as they are cut off from this chance," Zhirnov said in a televised interview with Rossiya-1 channel.

The situation is troublesome at Kabul’s airport. Thousands of people are trying to leave the country, according to media reports. The US troops are keeping order at the hub and even had to fire warning shots earlier. People cling to the landing gears and aircraft fuselages to flee from Kabul. At least 12 people were killed in the incidents, according to the Taliban and NATO officials.

On February 14, 2003, Russia’s Supreme Court handed down a ruling declaring the Taliban to be a terrorist organization, which is outlawed in Russia.

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