<p >The head of the logistics department of the Afghan Ministry of Defence General Sayed Abdul Basir Saberi had advocated that the country under the new Taliban government acquire Russian military equipment including air defence systems. Speaking to Russian state media outlet TASS, the official stated when asked what kinds of Russian armaments he believed his country needed to acquire, he state: “I think we need air defence and airspace control equipment. We have ground equipment. I think we will purchase [such products] from you at the international level, when there are [international legal] conditions for this. In the future, we plan to buy Russian-made equipment that will enable us to create an air defence. We would like to have such weapons, as you are the most advanced country in the world in terms of these technologies.” The Afghan Armed Forces currently rely overwhelmingly on <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/Black-Hawk-Taliban-parade" target="_blank">U.S.-supplied military equipment</a>, which was provided primarily to fight Taliban forces before they took power in the country in 2021.&nbsp;The country currently fields little to know long range air defence assets.</p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2024/08/30/article_66d140a5a0e8c7_10409781.jpeg" title="Taliban Badri 313 Forces"></p><p >Since coming to power, the Taliban government has taken significant steps to improve relations with neighbouring China and Russia. Widespread references in the West to a possible need to return to Afghanistan may have fuelled concerns that Afghan forces may need to combat a possible second invasion in future, after the U.S. led a coalition assault on the country and overthrew its government in late 2001, followed by an occupation that lasted a few months short of 20 years. It remains highly uncertain whether Afghanistan can acquire Russian air defence systems, with the sophistication of many more complex systems requiring levels of technical education that are not thought to be prevalent in the country. Taliban forces have also been engaged in counterinsurgency operations against the Islamic State terror group, which officials both from the Taliban and from the former Afghan government have widely <a href="https://tass.com/world/944720" target="_blank">alleged</a> to be supported by Western countries.</p>