Afghanistan Is Biggest Threat To Central Asia, Says Russian Defence Minister
In a meeting with senior military officials, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu declared Afghanistan as the primary threat to Central Asia on Tuesday.
In a meeting with senior military officials, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu declared Afghanistan as the primary threat to Central Asia on Tuesday.
"The situation in the region is still challenging," Shoigu stated. "The most significant threat persists from Afghanistan."
Explaining the threat to Central Asia, Shoigu added, "In the past year, the number of ISIS fighters has increased by 15 percent."
The Russian Defence Minister further stated that the primary goal of ISIS is to propagate radical ideology and engage in terrorist activities along the southern borders of the member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation.
Shoigu added, "A 20 percent increase in narcotics production and trafficking through the Central Asian republics is expected." At the same time, he emphasised, they are implementing preventive measures.
According to him, addressing the crisis situation in the countries of the region and participating in seven exercises in the territory of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan are among the military plans of Russia and its allies in the member countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation.
In a meeting with his counterparts from Central Asia in Bishkek, the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, warned that 20 terrorist organisations, with more than 23,000 fighters, are present in Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban.
