As new clashes between the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan and the ruling Taliban are being reported from the Panjshir Valley, Russia has slammed reports by "American experts" on alleged delivery of Russian-made arms to Afghanistan.
Moscow says that it has paid attention to comments published on social networks by "some American Russophobic experts" about the alleged deliveries of Russian weapons to the National Resistance Front (NRF) of Afghanistan in the province of Panjshir.
The Russian Foreign Ministry that it strongly opposes "such insinuations and, anticipating possible subsequent fake reports" on this topic.
"Russia has not participated in any way and is not going to participate in the arming of the Afghan warring parties," said Russian MFA spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
A weapons identification expert, who tweets as Calibre Obscura, has said in a series of tweets that modern Russian weapons have been spotted in the hands of NRF fighters recently.
"#Afghanistan Curious hardware today. This pic has spread around claiming to show #NRF fighters in #Panjshir recently. 3 PG-7VR tandem charge projectiles can be seen, which is unusual (I magnified 2). These are only made in Russia; they look unused," the tweet stated along with a photograph.
Another tweet stated that "an external benefactor" may have managed to "get some new hardware to the anti-TB fighters" and apparently doesn't care about it being easily identifiable.
[THREAD] #Afghanistan: This is getting, to quote Alice, curiouser and curiouser. Not only are we seeing modern Russian PG-7VR apparently in #Panjshir in multiple images, SVDS DMR can also be seen. These are another recent (1995) design that I haven't previously seen locally. 👀 https://t.co/T8immVYmBR pic.twitter.com/0bBacgCN99
— Cᴀʟɪʙʀᴇ Oʙsᴄᴜʀᴀ ❄ (@CalibreObscura) January 14, 2022
However, Moscow has shot back at "American experts" making such assumptions, reiterating that its more focused on Taliban fulfilling the assurances given to ensure the inclusive, ethno-political nature of the new power structure.
"We are convinced that the supply of weapons to the parties to the conflict will not contribute to the stabilisation of the situation in Afghanistan, but, on the contrary, will lead to an aggravation of intra-Afghan contradictions, fraught with the incitement of a civil war on ethnic grounds. Such a scenario fundamentally contradicts Russia's interests," Zakharova added on Monday.
Reacting to the recent meeting that had taken place between the Taliban and the opposing Afghan National Resistance Front in Iran, Russia has already said that even though it did not lead to concrete results, this a step in the right direction, which will contribute to the process of national reconciliation and the formation of an ethno-politically balanced government in Afghanistan.
Last week, the Russian Foreign Ministry had stated clearly that like Iran, it had no plans to organise a meeting at its own site between the Taliban and the resistance.
"There are no plans to hold such a meeting in Russia at present. In principle, at the request of the Afghan side, they would be ready to provide a platform for negotiations between representatives of Kabul and the forces opposed to the new Afghan authorities," Zakharova had said in a briefing on January 13.
Meanwhile, fresh reports indicate renewed clashes between the Taliban and the National Resistance Front fighters after NRF spokesman Sibghatullah Ahmadi had last month claimed that several Taliban fighters have been killed in recent NRF guerrilla fighters' in the Faraj, Roch and other areas of Panjshir.
Commander Wazir Shotul and comrades in #Panjsher
This guerrilla unit have been very active in different districts of Panjsher and are expanding day by day. pic.twitter.com/i64NeWN90H— Dr Koohyar (@kavehkoohyar) January 14, 2022
Quoting Aamaj News, Sputnik Tajikistan recalled on Tuesday that the NRF representative Ali Maisam Nazari had said that the front was accepting more and more people into its ranks to fight the Taliban with the organisation's supporters not only strengthening their base in Panjshir, but also in the provinces of Kapitsa, Parvan, Badakhshan, Balkh, Baghlan.
Several videos are also currently going viral on social media showing the Resistance front fighters in Faraj vowing to fight for the honour and freedom of their land and its people despite the cold weather.
The Resistance front camp in Faraj district of #Panjsher. The commander says despite the cold weather we're adamant than ever before to continue fighting for the honour and freedom of our land and its people, our father did the same.
We choose to fight for our freedom pic.twitter.com/4Zeyab6BIQ
— Panjshir_Province (@PanjshirProvin1) January 18, 2022
