About 5,000 terrorists are concentrated at the borders of the CIS countries in the north of Afghanistan. The director of the FSB of Russia Alexander Bortnikov stated it at a meeting of the Heads of the Security Agencies of the CIS member states.
“Of particular concern is the transfer of terrorist groups to the northern provinces of Afghanistan, bordering on the Commonwealth states. In these areas, the branch of ISIL (banned in the Russian Federation) has already concentrated about 5,000 militants. A significant part of them are citizens of the CIS countries who fought in Syria”, he mentioned.
According to Bortnikov, the buildup of terrorist forces contributes to a significant aggravation of the situation in the Central Asian region. Militants continuously penetrate into the CIS countries in the flow of refugees and labor migration.
“Introducing themselves into national diasporas and local communities, the terrorists create hidden cells, ideologically process and recruit new supporters, primarily from socially unsettled youth and migrants, teaching them terrorist activities”, the Head of the FSB claimed.
According to Bortnikov, as a countermeasure, it is necessary to strengthen the border infrastructure, increase the level of interaction on joint operational-search and filtration measures in the flow of migrants and strengthen the resistance to terrorist ideology, including on the Internet.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo by Муса Салгереев/ТАСС