MOSCOW -- On the morning of Aug. 16, a contingent of Taliban fighters and two armored vehicles equipped with machine guns surrounded the Russian Embassy in Kabul. Their mission: to protect the Russian diplomatic personnel inside.
As Russia's Ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov told the Echo Moskva radio station later that day, a Taliban commander promised him that "no one will harm a hair on the heads of Russian diplomats." In a sharp contrast from the tone of his Western counterparts, Zhirnov described the Taliban soldiers as "very adequate people" and praised the Islamist group for quickly restoring order in Kabul.
