Russia removes Taliban from the list of terrorist groups

The Taliban movement has become the first organization to be removed from Russia's list of terrorist groups. Its activities had been banned in Russia for over 20 years.

The Supreme Court granted a motion filed by the Prosecutor General's Office to suspend the ban on the Taliban's activities and ordered the organization's removal from the list of terrorist organizations.

The ruling is subject to immediate enforcement, Judge Oleg Nefyodov said.

As the hearing was held behind closed doors and the press was only allowed in for the announcement of the decision, the details of the motion remain unknown. The Taliban is the first group to be delisted under amendments made last year to the federal law "On Combating Terrorism.”

Under the new provisions, a ban may be lifted by court order if an organization has ceased activities that involve promoting, justifying, or supporting terrorism, or committing such crimes. The explanatory note to the law stated that the mechanism was introduced to address a legal gap.

The Taliban had been on Russia's list of terrorist organizations since 2003. The Supreme Court's original ruling cited the group's links to illegal armed groups in Chechnya and its use of terrorist tactics.

"With support from Osama bin Laden, it sought to help Islamic movements seize power in Central Asian countries, including Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan,” the court had then claimed.

In August 2021, amid the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban returned to power. The group declared the establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan for the second time in history, replacing the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Afterward, the Taliban pledged to uphold the rights and freedoms of women within the framework of Sharia law.

Russia, along with several other countries, issued political demands to the group — most notably, calls for an inclusive government (i.e., one that includes non-Taliban members) and respect for fundamental human rights. Official Russian political contacts with the Taliban have continued. In January last year, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Russia maintains communication with the Taliban, but does not recognize its government until it fulfills its political commitments.

In May 2024, the Russian Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Justice reported to President Vladimir Putin that the Taliban could be removed from the list of banned organizations. The agencies noted that the Taliban controls the entire territory of Afghanistan and is the country's de facto government. Commenting on the proposal, Putin stated that relations with Kabul need to be built somehow, although he acknowledged that Afghanistan has problems — obvious ones — which everyone is well aware of.

• In 2023, Kazakhstan removed the Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations;
• In September 2024, Kyrgyzstan's Prosecutor General's Office updated its registry of banned organizations, excluding the Taliban as well.

Details

Afghanistan officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, Tajikistan to the northeast, and China to the northeast and east. Occupying 652,864 square kilometers (252,072 sq mi) of land, the country is predominantly mountainous with plains in the north and the southwest, which are separated by the Hindu Kush mountain range. Kabul is the country's capital and largest city. Afghanistan's population is estimated to be between 36 and 50 million.