Zamir Kabulov

MOSCOW, July 15 (Sputnik) – The Taliban movement controls over half of the territory of Afghanistan and the local population has more trust in its authorities rather than in the central government, Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second Asian Department Director Zamir Kabulov told Kommersant newspaper in an interview.

According to Kabulov, the central authorities of Afghanistan imply the integration of the Taliban when they are talking about settlement of the situation in the country.

“In practice, Taliban is very much integrated into the military and political life of Afghanistan, it controls more than half of the country’s territory,” Kabulov said, adding that Afghans have more trust in the Taliban’s system of management, which operates in parallel with the central leadership.

Kabulov specified that the Taliban is present in the majority of provinces, and in some cases the movement is a “key force” despite the existence of local administrations.

The security situation in Afghanistan has been unstable for years as the government continues to fight Taliban militants for control of the state. A number of terrorist groups have been operating in the country, further complicating the situation.