Terrorist organizations operating in Afghanistan remain a concern for member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Against the backdrop of the pandemic, terrorists have begun switching to remote recruitment of adherents, Russian Security Council Deputy Secretary Rashid Nurgaliyev said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
"We are still concerned about terrorist organizations operating in Afghanistan. In the conditions of the pandemic, their reorientation to remote recruitment of adherents of radical ideology is fixed," he pointed out. Nurgaliyev responded to the question of whether the problem of instability in Afghanistan, which is traditionally raised at meetings of the CSTO Security Council secretaries, is relevant today.
He added that terrorists are looking for new supporters "also among young people in Muslim educational institutions". "Their emissaries often use intimidation of recruits or attract them by promises of significant rewards," noted the deputy secretary of the Security Council.
In response to a related question, Nurgaliyev explained that this concerns not only Afghanistan. He added that the CSTO Security Councils "have planned a number of additional measures to prevent attempts to transfer the activity of international terrorist organizations to the southern borders" of the CSTO countries.
Furthermore, according to the secretaries of the CSTO Security Councils, attention should be focused on counteracting the desire of some states to use terrorist and extremist organizations as a tool for achieving their own political goals," said the deputy secretary of the Security Council. - "We will speak with one voice to prevent terrorist organizations from using international platforms for the propaganda of their ideology".
Biological security issues
Nurgaliyev said Russia came up with an initiative to create a Coordinating Council of authorized bodies of CSTO member states on biological security.
"The pandemic has strengthened the cooperation of CSTO countries on the line of countering biological threats. Thus, at Russia's initiative, it was proposed to form a Coordinating Council of authorized bodies of CSTO member states on biological security, reporting to the Committee of Secretaries of CSTO Security Councils," he said.
According to him, this body is expected to develop joint practical measures to prevent threats to national, regional and international security associated with the impact of dangerous biological factors. "It is important for us to jointly analyze the situation with bio-threats, exchange experience and plan joint actions in this sphere. In addition, there is a long-overdue need to improve the legal framework for cooperation on biological security," Nurgaliyev added.
Talking about the influence of the coronavirus pandemic on the format of cooperation between the CSTO member states, he noted that the Secretaries of the Security Council met in 2020 in absentia and had to make changes to the usual work. "In view of the pandemic, the active stages of the CSTO regional anti-drug operation "Kanal" conditionally called "Kanal-Granit Bastion" and "Kanal-Nevsky Shield" planned for 2020 will be held in 2021. In connection with the quarantine measures, the joint operation "Illegal-2020" ("Nelegal") was postponed to 2021 in order to develop the mechanisms of cooperation between the law enforcement bodies and special services in the fight against illegal migration," said Nurgaliyev.
CSTO
The Collective Security Treaty was signed in 1992 in Tashkent, in 2002 it was decided to establish the organization. The CSTO includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. Tajikistan chairs the CSTO in 2020-2021.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Mikhail Japaridze / TASS
Based on materials from TASS