(AhlulBayt News Agency) - The rise of ISIS in Afghanistan poses serious security concerns for Russia, Moscow has said, adding that Washington bears responsibility for the current chaos in the country.
Moscow “is concerned over the rise of ISIS in Afghanistan because it has far-reaching geopolitical consequences for Russian safety,” said Zamir Kabulov, the Russian Foreign Ministry's director of the Second Asian Department in Afghanistan.
Kabulov served as Russian envoy to Afghanistan in 2004-2009 and is currently a special representative of the Russian president on Afghanistan.
Kabulov said that about 2,500 ISIS combatants are currently in Afghanistan.
"They [ISIS] continue to recruit people and enhance their combat capabilities. If they are not restrained then the chances are that we will have to face an even more powerful force," Kabulov said.
The US bears responsibility for the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, he added.
"They have reduced their presence and did not resolve a single problem, while creating new ones. They have a political and moral responsibility for what is happening in Afghanistan right now."
The US “cut back their presence [in Afghanistan] and did not resolve a single issue and created more problems. They carry political and moral responsibility for what is taking place in Afghanistan now," Kabulov said.
According to him, Washington’s approach is changing from relatively optimistic to more realistic.
“While six months ago our US counterparts were more optimistic about the situation in Afghanistan, arguing that there are many difficulties but it is possible to overcome them, this time I was impressed by the fact that the Americans were more realistic, they realize that the situation is at a dangerous point, beyond which there is more chaos," he added.
Moscow is still calling upon its American colleagues to take more active steps to handle the crisis, he added.
“It would be good if this more serious approach was transformed into real actions,” he said.
Afghanistan has been gripped by insecurity since the US and its allies invaded the country as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror in 2001. Many parts of the country still remain plagued by militancy despite the presence of foreign troops.
Taliban militants have also regrouped since the death of former leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour earlier in the year and are reported to be currently in control of some areas in Afghanistan. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) says it recorded 1,601 civilian deaths and 3,565 injuries in Afghanistan in the first six months of 2016.
Over the past few months, the Takfiri militants in Syria and Iraq have been suffering major setbacks as the two countries’ armies managed to push Daesh out of regions which they previously had under control and kill large numbers of the terrorists.
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source : RT
Wednesday
14 September 2016
12:21:11 PM
778996
The rise of ISIS in Afghanistan poses serious security concerns for Russia, Moscow has said, adding that Washington bears responsibility for the current chaos in the country.