The withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan has seriously complicated the situation in the region, the State Duma Committee on International Affairs will monitor the situation, Leonid Slutsky, Chairman of the Committee, said on Thursday in his Telegram channel.
"The State Duma Committee on International Affairs will follow this situation with the utmost attention, maintaining contacts with colleagues in the countries of the region on the parliamentary line. Not only Tajikistan may face a threat, we don't even want to speak out loud about a possible negative development," the deputy wrote.
The parliamentarian noted that "withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan has seriously complicated the already complicated situation in the region, which is in the immediate vicinity of the borders of Russia and our key partners". In this connection, Slutsky recalled Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's words that if militants from Afghanistan attack Tajikistan, the situation will be immediately addressed in the CSTO.
"Russia will fulfill all its obligations under bilateral and multilateral agreements, including using the capabilities of its military base on the border of Tajikistan and Afghanistan. The Russian Foreign Minister spoke about this the day before," he added.
The head of the Duma Committee also drew attention to the fact that after the withdrawal of the American troops, the Taliban (a movement banned in Russia and recognized as a terrorist organization) began to rapidly occupy their bases. "A logical question arises: what has the American army been doing in this country for so many years if not only have the extremists not been defeated, but they, by all appearances, have not even been weakened? The Western allies have failed to properly prepare and strengthen the armed forces of Afghanistan," Slutsky concluded.
US President Joe Biden announced on April 14 that he had decided to end the operation in Afghanistan, which has become the longest overseas military campaign in American history. The United States began this war in October 2001. The withdrawal of American troops began in May. The White House expects it to be completed by the end of August.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS