Moscow (EFE).- Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Friday of the buildup of extremist and terrorist groups in northern Afghanistan, and said that the Islamic State (IS) alone has about 2,000 members in the area.
“The buildup of extremist and terrorist groups near the border of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is clearly visible,” he said during an online summit of the alliance, made up of nine former Soviet countries.
Putin said to the leaders and prime ministers of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan that ISIS, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan’s Jamaat Ansarullah, Al Qaeda and others are present.
“According to our data, there are about 2,000 members of IS alone in northern Afghanistan,” the Russian leader said.
Putin added that “the terrorist leaders are hatching plans to spread their influence in the Central Asian states, in the Russian regions.”
Extremist and terrorist groups are betting on “inciting ethnic and confessional conflicts and religious hatred,” he said.
“Terrorists are trying to penetrate CIS territory, including under the guise of refugees,” he warned.
Of the CIS countries, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan border Afghanistan, as does Turkmenistan, a partner nation.
Tajik President Emomali Rahmon said that the political-military and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan “has created a serious threat to the security of our countries.”
“It is necessary to strengthen cooperation within the framework of the CIS to defend our external borders and raise the combat capability of the armed forces,” said Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
The leader also called for increased interaction between security services in the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking.
Putin argued that the Taliban will find it difficult to forgo income from drug production in Afghanistan, which remains the world’s largest supplier of opiates.
“When they were previously in power, in principle, they did it and they did it successfully. But today it will not be easy to give up that source of income, especially in a crisis,” he said.
The Russian president also insisted on the need to support the intra-Afghan reconciliation process, and said that Moscow is preparing a multilateral conference later this month.
The meeting, to which the Taliban are invited, is scheduled for Wednesday in a so-called “Moscow format” created in 2017 and consisting of an extended troika for Afghanistan (Russia, China, Pakistan and the USA) plus India and Iran.
The group will propose a UN-sponsored conference on humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
The Russian president’s special envoy to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said Friday that the Taliban have confirmed their attendance at the meeting.
For his part, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced at the online CIS summit that his country had already begun supplying food and other basic necessities to Afghanistan.
He stressed that humanitarian aid to the Afghan people is a “practical contribution to the support of Afghanistan.”
Tokayev reiterated his offer to set up an operations center in Almaty to channel international humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.
The Uzbek leader stressed that Uzbekistan is in favor of dialogue with the new Afghan authorities, but he recommends continuing to provide humanitarian and economic aid to the Afghan people. EFE
© 2021 EFE News Services (U.S.) Inc.
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Putin is a murderer and the terrorists are murderers. Two peas in a pod!
There is a difference. Your comment is like saying Donald Trump and puppet Joe Biden are both the same because they are politicians or that Republicans and democrats are the same because they are both political parties.
i never saw,heard of Putin going on killing spress, invading countries etc like the USa has been doing for YEARS….so who is the murderer????? Put your blinkers in your backpack and have some clear vision.
Putin invaded the Eastern Ukraine, took Crimea and took part of the Country of Georgia, worthit!
Putin MAY be a killer.. BUT HE IS RIGHT On the money here..
Hey, Vladimir, don’t forget to invite Joe to the meeting.
“The group will propose a UN-sponsored conference on humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.”,,,,,,,so get ready for that giant Sucking sound of more borrowed USA wealth getting sent to enrich our American enemies in another Biden crime family kickback enema of the usual 10%. I say let the Afghans clean up and finance their own way out of their mess. When it comes to correcting failed cultures and societies, some only change when the pain gets too great to withstand. The same applies to failed Democrat liberal ideas which when the pain sets in, the government just extends it with blankets of borrowed money, that just borrows more sorrow when the corrective pain is socially changed to the punitive pain by the Democrats. Humanitarianism is the equity equivalent Socialist code word for worldwide redistribution of human wealth and human life force from the successful cultures and societies to the failed ones. Do not be deceived.
I wouldn’t be shocked to already SEE US Funding being sent to the taliban..
I’m not a fan of Putin but he certainly has the most to lose and the most risk when compared to the USA. The Russians will send aid and try to negotiate a settlement of sorts but if the terrorist groups, helped and/or funded by the Taliban, start entering Russian protected territory he’ll decisively act. He’s not going to want another war that goes on forever.
helped and funded by the USA you mean. USA are great supporters of terrorists in places where they are not/or no longer the boss.
Hell Vlad, America has a terrorist living right here in our whitehouse. That’s a hell of a lot closer then Afghanistan. And America is doing nothing about it but bit*h, that is until we have had enough!
Things are back to the way they should be – Muslims killing Muslims without Americans officially in the middle. Of course Biden totally botched the exit but Trump’s decision to stop the futile nation-building was correct. You can’t make a silk purse, a country with decent human rights out of a sow’s ear run by Islamic religious law for which Afghanistan’s benighted population voted. They made their bed. Let China and Russia now deal with the threat along their borders.
One problem, pinocchio joe “is” building their country back and with our tax dollars. This piece * **** really needs to go!