Afghan soil will not be used to attack neighbors, said a visiting Taliban delegation in Moscow on Friday, in what appears a reassuring message to Russia and the war-wracked country's other neighbors, who have grown increasingly concerned about the stability of the region amid the deteriorating security situation in northern Afghanistan.   

The visit by the Taliban delegation, headed by a senior group leader, Shahabuddin Delawar, came at a time when the fighting has escalated in northern Afghanistan, creating anxiety among bordering  Central Asian countries and Russia. 

“We will take all measures so that the Islamic State will not operate on Afghan soil,” Delawar was quoted as saying by Reuters, adding, “Our territory will never be used against our neighbors.” A day earlier, the group said they will not attack the Afghan-Tajik border and said they would eradicate poppy cultivation--both of which remain key concern of Russia. 

In the last few weeks, the Taliban has taken control of many Afghan towns---some estimates say over 100, including those bordering Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Pakistan, and China. 

Over a thousand Afghan soldiers, this week, fled across the border into Tajikistan, raising fear of a potential refugee influx in the already impoverished Central Asia whose stability continues to remain vulnerable from Islamic Jehadist movements. 

Expecting an impending refugee crisis resulting from a potential civil war in Afghanistan, Micheal Kugelman, a senior associate for South Asia in Wilson Center, wrote in a recent Foreign Policy South Asia Brief, “The least politically risky option for Afghanistan’s neighbors is to house refugees in facilities just across their borders, hoping the U.N. and aid groups will help finance them.”

Interestingly, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was in Moscow for a two-day trip, and Afghanistan was on the agenda of the meeting. Also, when Jaishankar stopped brief;y in Tehran earlier this week, a Taliban delegation, headed by Abbas Stanekzai, was camping in Tehran as well. 

Jaishankar, in a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, expressed concern over the unfolding situation in Afghanistan.

On the same day, Pakistan’s National Security Advisor Moeed Yusuf termed the situation in Afghanistan “extremely bad” and “out of Pakistan’s control.”  He warned that in case the situation in "Afghanistan goes back to what it was in the 1990s", Pakistan would have to deal with a refugee influx.

The Taliban in Moscow claimed the group is controlling around 85 percent of Afghanistan-- a claim disputed by many, included the Afghan government. Tajikistan, however, said this week the Taliban has been controlling over two-third of the Afghan-Tajikistan border areas.  

Russia has assured Tajikistan that the Moscow-led CSTO military bloc would act decisively to prevent aggression across the border if necessary.