Acting Secretary-General of the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Valery Semerikov, warns of the threat of formation of a powerful extremist group along Afghanistan’s common border with Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
He stated this at the 6th annual meeting of the Security Council Secretaries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member nations that took place in Moscow on November 21, according to the CSTO press center.
“Today, this country has turned into a bridgehead for transferring militants of the Islamic State (IS) terror group to the post-Soviet nations,” said Semerikov.
Taking into consideration the tense international situation, there ought to consolidate efforts of international and regional structures in order to provide collective and individual security of nations, acting head of the CSTO added.
According to him, political instability in Afghanistan and endless flow of narcotic drugs from this country evoke serious concern.
There is a real threat of formation of a powerful extremist group along Afghanistan’s common border with Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, Semerikov said.
Afghan provinces like Kunduz, Takhar, and Badakhshan, which share a border with Tajikistan’s Khatlon province and the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), have repeatedly come under attack by Taliban forces in recent years.
Most of the Tajik-Afghan border is situated in high terrain, which makes patrolling this frontier extremely difficult. Infiltration into Tajikistan by militant groups could quickly spill into the rest of the region.
