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KABUL: Moscow has said that ISIS, known as Daesh extremist group, has not been defeated in Afghanistan – contrary to what Afghan security forces say that Daesh extremist is defeated.
“Tensions are running high in Afghanistan. The armed opposition, as represented by the Taliban movement, has brought no less than half of the country’s territory under their control. This situation is being used by international terrorist groups, primarily ISIS, to increase their activity,” Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.
“We are still concerned about their (ISIS) consistent efforts to organise a bridgehead in northern Afghanistan in order to destabilise the situation in the neighbouring Central Asian countries,” the statement added.
“A graphic illustration of these intentions was the recent attack by ISIS militants on a border post in Tajikistan. We also see that after official Kabul’s statements about the defeat of the ISIS militants in the east of the country, they are once again becoming more active in that region. So, the threats of extremism and terrorism, as well as of drug-trafficking, which is linked to the first two threats, coming from Afghanistan still exist,” statement added.
It added, in this situation, Russia welcomes the resumption of talks between the United States and the Taliban in Qatar after their suspension last December. We believe that if the United States and the Taliban reach an agreement shortly, an intra-Afghan peace process could be initiated. In our opinion, the necessary conditions for this exist now.
“As for the recent accusations of support for radicals in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan levelled by the United States at Teheran, we believe these have not been substantiated at this point and do not help to create a positive atmosphere for achieving a sustainable settlement in Afghanistan.
The Daesh group’s Afghan branch has been “defeated” in one of the key eastern provinces where it first sought to establish a stronghold, a top Afghan security official said last year.
The claim comes after the militants first burst into Afghanistan’s conflict in 2015, when they overran large parts of Nangarhar and Kunar provinces, near to the crossing points with the Pakistan.
Daesh “were defeated in Nangarhar, their centers were destroyed,” security officials said on that time.
