Saudi Arabia is reportedly to recognize renewal of the Taliban’s rule over Afghanistan as the militant group’s flash takeover of the country has given rise to mixed messages, mostly of warning, from across the world.
Reporting on Monday, some media outlets alleged that Riyadh had thrown its support behind the militants. Earlier in the day, the militants rode into the presidential palace in the capital Kabul to mark the frosting on the cake on their recent lightning advances throughout Afghanistan.
Russia’s Sputnik news agency said Riyadh had become the “first country to recognize the Taliban” as Afghanistan’s new masters.
The government in Riyadh has not yet said anything in corroboration of the reports, other than reporting that it had begun evacuating the Saudi diplomats from the kingdom’s mission in the Central Asian country.
It even alleged that it hoped for the situation in Afghanistan to assume stability as soon as possible, and proclaimed support for the “Afghan people.”
Riyadh, it added, followed the developments in Afghanistan closely.
The kingdom has been associated with fomenting extremism throughout the region by exporting its notorious radical ideology of Wahhabism.
For years on end, the country has been doing this by setting up thousands of so-called ideology promotion schools in Pakistan.
The country then started taking its school-building spree to Afghanistan, where it committed to setting up countless such centers there too.
The militants topped their exponential advances in the country by running into the presidential palace right after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled to safety,
For month, they had been leading an exceptionally forceful offensive countrywide.
Despite their initial denials, including their reluctance to take over Kabul, the campaign soon became apparent to be aimed at restoring their full grip on the country that was temporarily lost after the United States’ 2001 invasion.
The US only helped the matters amid the chaos, saying in April that it sought to enable a complete withdrawal from the Central Asian country.
The United Nations and many other international bodies have warned that Taliban’s fresh rise to power threatened to send repercussions throughout the region.