Taliban name envoy to Moscow

A Taliban diplomat will on Tuesday assume the role as Afghanistan's ambassador to Russia, the group's first top envoy to Moscow since seizing power in 2021, Russian state media reported.

Gul Hassan, a former consul in Pakistan, arrived in the capital earlier on Tuesday and will soon "take up his duties", Russia's TASS news agency said.

An official at the Afghan embassy told AFP that Hassan "was due to arrive today".

Moscow has expanded its economic and diplomatic ties with the Islamist group since it returned to power in Afghanistan following a 20-year insurgency against the US-backed government in Kabul.

Several other countries including China and the United Arab Emirates have also accepted a Taliban-appointed envoy, though no state has yet officially recognised them as Afghanistan's lawful government.