RASC News Agency: Andrey Nikolaevich Serdyukov, a senior military official of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), recently stated that the presence of ISIS and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) members near the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border under Taliban control has escalated. According to a report by the Russian news agency TASS, published on Wednesday, Feb 14, quoting Serdyukov, he has labeled “international terrorists” and extremist groups, including ISIS’s Khorasan branch and Al-Qaeda, as significant threats to Central Asian countries.
According to this military official of the CSTO, “An increase in the number of ISIS’s Khorasan branch and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan members near the southern borders of Tajikistan has been recorded.” Serdyukov also deemed the establishment of “terrorist training camps” in Afghanistan under Taliban control as alarming, adding that the presence of foreign fighters, especially in the north of the country, has intensified.
He further cautioned that the increase in migration in Afghanistan under Taliban rule and the suppression of ethnic and religious minorities by this group may worsen the situation. According to this Russian official, a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, drug trafficking from Afghanistan under Taliban control will have negative repercussions on the entire region.
These statements come as the United Nations Security Council previously announced in a report that the Taliban maintains close ties with Al-Qaeda and has established eight new training centers in Afghanistan.
