Russia has repeatedly cited information that allows to reasonably draw conclusions on the subject of the US interaction with the militants of the terrorist group Islamic State (IS, banned in the Russian Federation) in Afghanistan, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Thursday.
"If we really talk about the facts, we have cited them repeatedly. We just don't do it in the Anglo-Saxon tradition of showing test tubes at the UN Security Council and then it turns out to be fake, we do it based on data," she said when asked whether Russia would publish data on US interaction with IS fighters.
"We believe that this information is enough to make reasonable conclusions about cooperation between the US and ISIS militants," the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said, adding that Russia has already voiced the information it has and it can be used in international bodies, including the UN.
Russia knows about the facts of unmarked helicopters flying within the area of activity of IS militants, especially in the northern part of Afghanistan, the diplomat pointed out. According to Afghan sources, in this way terrorists were supplied with manpower and killed and wounded were taken away, she stressed. "Without the knowledge of the United States, NATO forces, which fully controlled Afghanistan's airspace, such activities simply could not take place," Zakharova explained.
Earlier, Zamir Kabulov, Director of the Foreign Ministry's Second Asia Department, said in an online discussion at the Valdai International Discussion Club that Russia had received information about concrete facts of cooperation between the foreign contingent led by the United States and IS in Afghanistan.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Press Service of the Russian Foreign Ministry / TASS
Based on materials from TASS