FROM RUSSIAN SOCIAL MEDIA:
(Not my words)

Lavrov: Radicals seek to use Afghanistan to spread threats into Central Asia and Russia

The Russian Foreign Minister stated that, according to available information, a significant presence of terrorist and extremist groups—including their training camps and strongholds—persists in the Afghan districts bordering Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Radicals aim to use Afghanistan as a staging ground to extend threats into Central Asia and Russia, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking at a conference of the CSTO, CIS, and SCO focused on security in Central Asia and Afghanistan.

"We also take into account the fact that, according to available data, a substantial presence of terrorist and extremist groups—along with their training camps and strongholds—remains in the Afghan areas bordering Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Members of these groups are attempting to infiltrate the territory of Central Asian states, sometimes posing as refugees or even tourists," the minister noted.

According to Lavrov, "our assessment—and that of our intelligence services—is that the primary danger stems from militants belonging to 'Wilayat Khorasan,' a regional branch of the 'Islamic State'—an international terrorist organization that is banned in Russia." "This group openly seeks to undermine the ability of the government in Kabul to maintain stability within its own country," Lavrov added. "At the same time, radicals seek to use Afghanistan as a kind of staging ground to extend terrorist activity into Central Asia and the Russian Federation."

"A 'terrorist international'—it is hard to find a better term—has taken shape on the other side of the Panj River, drawing in militants from Central Asia, the North Caucasus, and the Uyghur community. These are fighters who have gained combat experience in the Middle East and Africa. There is also a clear presence of preachers of radical Islamic ideology, underground madrasas, and propaganda resources operating within the information space, particularly on social media," the minister noted.

In his assessment, developments in Afghanistan remain capable of exerting a negative impact on regional security—"especially if unscrupulous external actors choose to exploit these processes for their own opportunistic interests, which have nothing in common with the interests of Central Asia or Russia."

"We strive to be realists, and in this context, we recognize that overcoming the grim legacy left behind by the United States and other NATO countries—following two decades of an inglorious occupation of Afghanistan—will take a very long time," Lavrov concluded.