Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov expressed major concerns about the presence of terrorist groups and drug trafficking in Afghanistan, deeming them significant threats to regional stability. Japarov highlighted these issues while speaking at a meeting with national security advisors and secretaries from regional countries.
He emphasized that terrorism, drug trafficking, and a weak economy are among Afghanistan’s biggest challenges, noting that around 20 terrorist groups, including Daesh, are currently operating there.
Simultaneously, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev accused the West of exacerbating the geopolitical turmoil in Afghanistan. He claimed that over 20 terrorist organizations, totaling more than 23,000 militants, are active in the country due to Western geopolitical strategies.
According to the state-run Russian TASS news agency, Patrushev, speaking at the same meeting in Bishkek, stated, “The main responsibility for the current difficult situation in Afghanistan should squarely lie with the US and its allies.”
Patrushev criticized the United States for its 20-year involvement in Afghanistan, asserting that it failed to address fundamental challenges or support post-conflict recovery. “The West planted a ticking time bomb by abandoning an enormous amount of weapons when it retreated [from Afghanistan],” he remarked.
Patrushev also warned that the West’s withdrawal and the abandonment of large quantities of weaponry have contributed to internal conflict in Afghanistan and aided the spread of arms to terrorist groups.
“In addition to the West’s increased presence efforts in Afghanistan, I would like to highlight its attempts to use terrorist groups for this purpose. Our estimates indicate there are about 20 international terrorist organizations in Afghanistan, fielding over 23,000 militants,” Patrushev added.
The meeting, attended by national security advisors and secretaries from various regional countries, was held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan’s capital, on Friday.
This comes as Taliban has rejected recent UN findings about the presence of Daesh members in the country with Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claiming that the group has been “completely suppressed” in Afghanistan.
