RUSSIA - Taliban No Longer Terror Group
Russia’s Supreme Court lifted a ban on Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban, a group that was designated as a terrorist organization more than two decades ago.
The court’s ruling on a request by the Prosecutor General’s Office followed last year’s adoption of a law stipulating that the official designation as a terrorist organization could be suspended by a court.
In recent years, the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have removed the Taliban from their lists of terrorist groups.
Some Taliban want greater engagement with the international community and want to scrap harsher policies to attract more outside support.
-www.cnn.com, 17 April 2025
Arno's Commentary
The hope for victory in Afghanistan by the Soviet Union ended in 1989 with defeat, and Russia withdrawing its troops. In a similar manner, US forces had to withdraw its military in 2021.
Although this was enthusiastically welcomed by the Taliban, from Russia’s perspective, it shows their desperate search for friends or potential allies.
While Afghanistan is not mentioned by name in Scripture, some Bible scholars quote Acts 2:9-11, where 16 nationalities are mentioned, including today’s territory of Afghanistan: “Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.”
Regarding Christians, Wikipedia writes: “The total number of Christians in Afghanistan is currently estimated to be 15,000-20,000 according to International Christian Concern.”
Islam is Afghanistan’s official religion, and apostasy—leaving Islam—is punishable by death. Officially, Afghanistan denies the existence of Christians within its borders. Nevertheless, there are believers who have placed their faith in the accomplished work of Jesus Christ, fulfilling our Lord’s prophecy, “I will build my church.”
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
