CIS Countries Support Plan To Create Security Belt Around Afghanistan

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Secretary-General Sergey Lebedev announced that the bloc supports the Collective Security Treaty Organisation's plan to create a security belt around Afghanistan.

Lebedev expressed hope that the plan will lead to a reduction in the activity of terrorist groups in the region.

Azerbaijan, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Tajikistan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Moldova are members of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

At a meeting of the secretaries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Security Council in Moscow, Sergey Lebedev called for expanding cooperation for regional security, TASS news agency reported on Thursday, November 7.

"We hope that the establishment of a security belt around Afghanistan will help thwart the activities of international terrorist groups and combat drug trafficking, weapons and illegal immigration," he said.

The plan to create a security belt around Afghanistan was first proposed by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in October 2022 at an extraordinary meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).

At the time, he stressed that in order to prevent dangers, it was necessary to create a security belt around Afghanistan.

Although some countries in the region have economic and diplomatic relations with the Taliban, none of them recognise the Taliban and are still concerned about the spread of extremism.

In this regard, CSTO announced about two weeks ago that it would approve a plan to strengthen Tajikistan's border with Afghanistan.