Wahid Omar, an adviser to former President Ashraf Ghani, has criticized the Taliban government for publicizing the visit of Russia's foreign intelligence chief to Kabul, labeling the act a "protocol blasphemy."
Mr. Omar stated that visits by heads of intelligence agencies are typically kept secret and are not considered part of public diplomacy. He claimed the Taliban made the news public because Russia is "their only friendly country among Islamic and non-Islamic nations."
He accused the Taliban of hypocrisy, saying they "killed for fifty years in the name of Russia, atheism, America, servitude, and jihad," but today they consider relations with Russia a source of "pride and honor."
Ghani's former adviser also pointed to the recent visit of the Taliban's acting Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, to Moscow, where Muttaqi allegedly boasted that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was pleased with the Taliban.
These criticisms come as the head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) reportedly arrived in Kabul on Thursday and met with Abdul Haq Wasiq, the head of the Taliban's General Directorate of Intelligence.
The Taliban government has not yet provided details about the visit or the discussions, but publicizing it indicates the group's effort to highlight its relationships with regional powers like Russia.
Source: Statements by Wahid Omar
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