Kazakhstan To Remove Taliban From List Of Terrorist Groups

In September, some 300 Afghan businessmen and Taliban representatives attended a business forum in Astana.

Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Aibek Smadiyarov said in a televised interview on December 29 that the Central Asian state's Security Council had decided to remove the Taliban group now ruling Afghanistan from its registry of terrorist organizations. Smadiyarov said Astana will continue to adhere to United Nations decisions and resolutions regarding Afghanistan. Kazakhstan officially designated the Taliban as a terrorist organization in March 2005. Kazakhstan has sent several official delegations to Kabul since the Taliban took over Afghanistan after the U.S.-led military withdrawal in mid-2021. In September, some 300 Afghan businessmen and Taliban representatives attended a business forum in Astana. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, click here.