Tatarstan Offers to Repair Taliban’s Military Equipment Amid Growing Moscow-Taliban Ties
As military relations between Moscow and the Taliban administration expand, the head of the Russian Trade Center in Afghanistan announced that companies from the Republic of Tatarstan are ready to repair and refurbish military equipment held by the Taliban. These statements came after the signing of a military-technical cooperation agreement between the two parties.
Rustem Khabibullin, head of the Russian Trade Center in Afghanistan, told Tatar Inform news agency that Tatarstan can cooperate with the Taliban administration in the repair and maintenance of military equipment, supply of spare parts, specialized equipment, and vehicles. According to him, this cooperation will also include the reconstruction of after-sales service centers and the warranty of equipment produced in Tatarstan.
He also mentioned plans to establish training centers aimed at educating Afghan specialists and to launch a network of sales representatives. Khabibullin claimed that currently there are more than 100 Mi-17 helicopters, over 30,000 Kamaz trucks, and approximately 2,000 heavy machinery units made in Russia and Tatarstan present in Afghanistan.
This military-technical agreement was signed on May 26 at the sidelines of the International Security Assembly in Moscow, in the presence of Sergei Shoigu, Secretary of the Russian Security Council, and Mullah Yaqoob Mujahid, Defense Minister of the Taliban administration. During this visit, Mullah Yaqoob stated that cooperation with Russia holds special importance for the Taliban and that the two sides share historical relations.
The expansion of military cooperation between Russia and the Taliban administration comes while the Taliban remain unrecognized by a large part of the international community and face serious criticism domestically due to extensive restrictions on fundamental rights, especially those of women and girls. Nonetheless, the process of military and technical interactions between Moscow and the Taliban has accelerated in recent months.
