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In 2023, less than two years after the return of the Taliban and the chaotic withdrawal of US troops, Afghanistan allocated the largest share of its national budget to defense, signaling its intention to develop air defense capabilities. In April of that year, Qari Fasihuddin Fitrat, a Taliban commander and army chief of staff, said that "anti-aircraft missiles are a necessity for all countries", stressing that Afghanistan was doing everything possible to acquire such systems. At the same time, he did not specify how the Taliban planned to obtain these weapons.
This desire for air defense became more apparent in a recent interview with Russia's state-run TASS news agency on August 29, when General Syed Abdul Basir Saberi, head of the logistics division of the Taliban-controlled Ministry of Defense, said that Afghanistan intends to purchase air defense equipment. Russian production. He expressed the Taliban's interest in acquiring advanced systems from Russia when international conditions allow, noting that Russia, in his opinion, is the most advanced country in air defense technology.
The request came amid warming relations between the two countries, highlighted by the Taliban's invitation to a May forum in St. Petersburg. Saberi's comments suggest the Taliban hope that these growing ties could lead to the acquisition of weapons. Russia has also recently shown its readiness to provide modern weapons to the Houthis and transfer the Panzer-S1 air defense system to Hezbollah through Syria.
Any supply of Panzer systems or short- and medium-range systems such as the Buk and Thor to the Taliban would likely raise concerns in the United States. Since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, US forces have carried out over-the-horizon drone strikes on Afghan targets, including the killing of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul. The deployment of air defense in Afghanistan may complicate such operations. In March 2024, the Taliban claimed that US drones were patrolling and "violating" Afghan airspace.
