KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th August, 2020) Afghanistan's Ambassador to Russia Latif Bahand confirmed to Sputnik on Wednesday he was relieved from his duties.
Earlier in the day, a diplomatic source in Kabul confirmed relevant media reports to Sputnik.
"According to presidential verbal decree, my duty as an ambassador of the Republic of Afghanistan to Moscow was finished," Bahand said.
He added he had already returned to Kabul.
In a note addressed to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Afghan government has confirmed the ambassador's dismissal.
"The ambassador was called back. We confirm it. Kabul has officially informed us in a note that [Bahand] finished the assignment and returned home. There is nothing outstanding there as it is a diplomatic practice," the Russian Foreign Ministry's Second Asian Department Director Sergey Belyaev told Sputnik.
The diplomat added that Afghanistan had not yet appointed a new ambassador to Russia.
Bahand served as the Afghan ambassador in Moscow since 2018. His geographic expertise in Afghanistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs covered Central Asia.
Bahand has a degree from the Lomonosov Moscow State University. Fluent in Russian, he is also known for his translation of Russian classics into Pashto, including Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace" and Mikhail Sholokhov's "And Quiet Flows the Don."
