Taliban breaks silence on Russia-Ukraine war; urges both parties to solve conflict through dialogue

In what can be called 'irony at its peak', the Taliban on Friday broke its silence on the Russia-Ukraine war and urged both parties to resolve the conflict through dialogue and put an end to the violence. Taliban on Friday issued an official statement on its Twitter handle on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and stated that the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan has been closely monitoring the situation the ongoing situation in Ukraine and expressed its concern on the possible civilian possibility. 

Furthermore, the Taliban urged both the parties for restraint and stated, 'All sides need to desist from taking positions that could intensify violence'. More, the Taliban called upon both parties to resolve the issue with dialogue and peaceful means. The organization also expressed its worry for the Afghan students & migrants in Ukraine. 

It is pertinent to mention here that the Taliban itself preferred violence over dialogue when it invaded Kabul and other cities of Afghanistan including Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, Jalalabad and Lashkar Gah. The Taliban takeover started when the US announced the withdrawal of its troops from the war-torn nation Afghanistan after 20 years. With Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar heading the government, the regime has imposed strict rules in accordance with Sharia, curtailing women's rights, children's education, hunger, poverty and economic decline. Except for China and Pakistan, other nations have refused to recognised the Taliban-controlled government.

Coming to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Moscow amassed over 150,000 troops on Ukraine's borders in a bid to pressurise Western nations to not allow Kyiv to join NATO, threatening an invasion. On Thursday, Putin ordered a special military operation in Ukraine's Donbas region, which quickly turned into precision airstrikes on Kyiv, Kharkiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, deployed tanks towards Lviv from the Belarus-Ukraine border. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 137 died after first day of fighting.