Afghanistan's Taliban government calls for 'restraint' in Ukraine-Russia war

close

Video

Kyiv media reporting Russian forces have entered the city: Steve Harrigan

Fox News correspondent Steve Harrigan reports on Russian troops entering Kyiv live from the city.

The Taliban-controlled government of Afghanistan released a statement Friday addressing the Russia-Ukraine war, urging restraint and expressing concern for civilians.

"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is closely monitoring the situation in Ukraine and expresses concern about real possibility of civilian casualties," the statement, which the Taliban government spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi posted on Twitter, began. "The Islamic Emirate calls for restraint by both parties. All sides need to desist from taking positions that could intensify violence."

RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE: LIVE UPDATES

"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, in line with its foreign policy of neutrality, calls on both sides of the conflict to resolve the crisis through dialogue and peaceful means," the statement continued. "The Islamic Emirate also calls on parties to the conflict to pay attention to safeguarding the lives of Afghan students and migrants in Ukraine."

According to WeMakeScholars.com, there are more than 149 Ukrainian scholarships, fellowships and grants for Afghan students who wish to study abroad.

Firefighters work at a damaged residential building at Koshytsa Street, a suburb of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where a military shell allegedly hit, on Feb. 25, 2022.  (GENYA SAVILOV/AFP via Getty Images)

"The Taliban say the Ukraine crisis should be resolved through ‘dialogue and peaceful means’. The Taliban. Less than a year after blitzing through Afghanistan and toppling the government in Kabul, the Taliban are calling on Russia and Ukraine to show ‘restraint’. Surreal," BBC Monitoring journalist Kian Sharifi posted on Twitter.

U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, leaving the country to fall to the Taliban. According to sources on the ground, Taliban forces went from house to house, carrying out executions. Late last month, the United Nations reported that it received "credible allegations" that more than 100 former members of the Afghan government, its security forces and those who worked with international troops have been killed since the Taliban took over the country.

Taliban fighters escort women who march in support of the Taliban government outside Kabul University, Afghanistan.  (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Amid the Biden administration's messy and deadly withdrawal of U.S. troops, a suicide bombing in Kabul killed 13 U.S. service members and more than 170 Afghans.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

International observers have raised concerns about how the radical Islamist terrorist organization will treat women. The Taliban government promised that it would guarantee women's rights "within the limits of Islam."

Russian President Vladimir Putin toasts during a reception for military servicemen who took part in the Syrian campaign, at Grand Kremlin Palace on Dec. 28, 2017, in Moscow, Russia.  (Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)