OREANDA-NEWS. The Taliban took control of up to half of the counties in Afghanistan out of more than 400, but are unable to seize and hold the administrative centers of the provinces, Zamir Kabulov, the special envoy of the Russian president for Afghanistan, director of the second department of Asia of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

“We must not lose sight of the fact that most of the counties passed to the Taliban without a fight. And what does it mean? The government troops simply left their garrisons, positions and fled, to call a spade a spade. Therefore, the Taliban easily entered and put these counties under their control. In Afghanistan, more than 400 counties, of which now more than a third, maybe up to half, are under the control of the Taliban not as a result of hostilities, but as a result of the withdrawal of government troops from these territories, "Kabulov said.

“But, at the same time, the Taliban did not take a single center of the Afghan provinces - there are 34 of them, and I’m not talking about the capital at all. Yes, the Taliban are able to carry out raids, raids, break into cities from a military-technical point of view, but hold they do not yet have the strength to do this, "added a high-ranking Russian diplomat.

Kabulov stressed that the Taliban "do not seek" to take control of 100% of the territory of Afghanistan by force, "because they have common sense and they understand that this is impossible."

Russia calls on the Afghan authorities and the Taliban *, before it is too late, to begin meaningful negotiations that should lead to the creation of a coalition transitional government, Zamir Kabulov, the Russian president’s special envoy for Afghanistan, director of the second department of Asia of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said in an interview with RIA Novosti.