Iran Press/Europe: The Taliban pledged to respect Afghanistan’s borders with neighboring Central Asian states at talks in Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement released on July 8.
"Assurances were received from Taliban concerning non-violation of the borders of the Central Asian countries, guarantees of safety of diplomatic and consular missions of foreign states on the territory of Afghanistan," the statement said.
Zamir Kabulov, the Russian President's Special Representative for Afghanistan, expressed concerns of Russia regarding the escalation of tensions in northern districts of Afghanistan and urged not to allow its spread beyond the country.
On Thursday, two senior Afghan security officials, on condition of anonymity, stated that the Islam Qala border crossing with Iran, located in Herat province, had fallen to the Taliban and that Afghan security and customs officials had fled across the border.
On July 5, the Border Troops of Tajikistan said 1,037 military personnel of Afghan government forces had to retreat to the territory of Tajikistan after clashes with Taliban fighters.
Several such retreats occurred for the past 2 weeks.
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