As Kazakhstan moves to remove the Taliban from the list of terrorist groups, Rustam Emomali, speaker of Tajikistan's parliament, said that the spread of religious extremism from Afghanistan poses a threat to members of the CSTO.
Religious schools in Afghanistan "train suicide fighters", he said. According to TASS news agency, the Tajik president's son stressed that "more than 1,000 religious schools have been established in Afghanistan, most of them in Afghanistan's border provinces”.
The risk of extremism infiltrating from Afghanistan into CSTO countries has increased more than ever, the speaker of Tajikistan's parliament told a meeting of the heads of parliaments of the Collective Security Organisation (CSTO) countries in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Monday.
Continuing the current situation in Afghanistan will have very devastating consequences for Central Asian countries in the long run, he said.
"The situation in Afghanistan remains complicated and there is no real progress there," said the son of the Tajik president.
"Afghanistan has again become a centre of terrorism. Dozens of extremist and terrorist groups have strengthened their positions on Afghan soil. The cultivation and production of narcotics in Afghanistan is increasing,” he added.
Rustam Emomali said that we cannot ignore potential threats on the southern border of the CSTO from Afghanistan. He called it important to approve the CSTO plan to strengthen the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan, which is currently in the signature phase.
The comments come as Kazakhstan, which is Tajikistan’s neighbour, has removed the Taliban from its list of terrorist groups. Kazakhstan's president said on Monday that the Taliban's removal from the list of terrorist groups is important in expanding business-economic ties with the group.
The Taliban has said that it will not allow any group to attack from Afghan territory. However, Afghanistan's neighbouring countries, including Pakistan, the group's ally, have been skeptical of the Taliban's remarks.
