Russia evaluates the terrorist threat in Afghanistan as high because of representatives of the Islamic State (a terrorist organization banned in Russia) on the territory of the country, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
" As for [concerns about] terrorist attacks, we can state only one thing: in addition to the Taliban (a terrorist organization banned in Russia), there are also the Islamic State (ISIS) on the territory of Afghanistan. They are not native inhabitants of this country, but we are talking about real terrorists. Therefore, of course, the terrorist threat in Afghanistan is very high," Peskov said.
According to Peskov, Russia remains concerned about the extremely tense situation with the evacuation of citizens from Afghanistan by Western countries and is monitoring it very closely.
"We have seen information that the Taliban themselves have set supposedly August 31 as the deadline [for evacuation], we know that this topic was discussed yesterday at an extraordinary G7 summit," the Kremlin spokesman said, answering a related question. - "The situation is developing, time is running out, and the situation remains extremely tense. We are still following it very closely and remain concerned".
Referring to the information about the evacuation deadline of August 31, the Kremlin spokesman stressed that "the safety of Russians remains an absolute priority and everything necessary will be done to ensure it".
At the same time, Peskov forwarded the question to the Defense Ministry about the timing of the evacuation of citizens of Russia, CSTO countries and Ukraine from Afghanistan by the forces of the Russian Defense Ministry, which was announced on Wednesday.
Appeals for evacuation
Commenting on a letter that appeared in the media from Afghan graduates of Russian military schools asking to be taken out of the country, Peskov said that Moscow records and analyzes all requests to take citizens out of Afghanistan.
"We record all appeals, we analyze this information, I have nothing more to say now," the Kremlin spokesman said. - "This situation is not simple. It is hardly possible to discuss it in detail in such a megaphone format".
He also added that the Kremlin's position on bringing Afghan students to Russia for studying has "not been formulated yet". Earlier, Russian Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov said that more than 1,400 students from Afghanistan are studying at Russian universities.
On August 15, the Taliban fighters entered Kabul without a fight and took complete control of the Afghan capital within a few hours. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said he was leaving the country to avoid bloodshed. Amrullah Saleh, vice president of the republic, said that in the absence of the head of state, he became acting head of the country under the constitution and called for armed resistance to the Taliban. Western countries evacuate their citizens.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS