Terrorists from the “Islamic State” group are pulling together forces in Afghanistan, using an unjustified pause in negotiations. According to the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, the situation makes concerns to Russia, Interfax reports.
“It is important to pay attention to Afghanistan, where the ISIS members are actively pulling their forces, and they are doing this using the inexcusably prolonged process of preparing real peace negotiations. And those in Afghanistan, in its ruling structures, who are trying in every possible way to delay this process even more, of course, should think about the consequences of these actions for their homeland,” Lavrov warned.
Lavrov stressed that at the heart of the irresponsible behaviour of some officials in Kabul, under the conditions of their hasty withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan without the opportunity to report on the implementation of at least some tasks, the ISIS fighters are actively developing territories, primarily in the north of Afghanistan, right on the border with countries that are Russia’s allies.
“We are already holding consultations both through bilateral channels and within the framework of the CSTO in order to reliably protect our neighbours in Central Asia from this direct and very serious threat,” Lavrov said.
It is reminded that earlier, Russian President, Vladimir Putin, warned that the chaotic withdrawal of US troops could give rise to new terrorist threats, also noting that fighters “disguised as refugees” could soon make an appearance in surrounding nations.
In addition, it was reported before that in a call with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, Putin agreed to work together to maintain stability in the region. During talks, both sides “expressed their readiness to step up efforts to combat the threats of terrorism and drug trafficking flowing from the territory”.
Ru-Main, 01.08.2021
