Terrorist Threat Intensifies In Afghanistan After US Pullout - Putin

After the withdrawal of the US Armed Forces from Afghanistan, the situation in the country has not improved, international terrorist organizations are becoming more active, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday at a meeting with the secretaries of the security councils of several countries on the Afghan problem

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th February, 2023) After the withdrawal of the US Armed Forces from Afghanistan, the situation in the country has not improved, international terrorist organizations are becoming more active, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday at a meeting with the secretaries of the security councils of several countries on the Afghan problem.

"After the pullout of US Armed Forces from Afghanistan, the situation in this country, unfortunately, is not getting better. International terrorist organizations, including Al-Qaeda (banned in Russia), are becoming more active, building up their potential, and all of you know it very well," Putin said.

He also noted that Moscow was concerned about attempts by regional countries to use the situation in Afghanistan in order to expand and create infrastructure under the guise of combating terrorism.

"Although these countries are doing nothing that would be required for a true fight against international terrorism," Putin stressed.

According to Russian data, about 4 million people in the country are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, the president said.

"We have established contacts with the leadership of Afghanistan in Kabul. We know that there are good plans for the implementation of major economic projects that could stabilize the situation in the economy," Putin added.

"It is clear that today there is a lot of conflict potential in the world, a lot of conflicts, and we have a lot of conflicts not far from Russia, including in the Ukrainian direction. We understand perfectly well, we are aware of this. But this does not reduce the significance of the situation in Afghanistan. For us, it was always important, and today it is doubly important, because we do not want any more points of tension to arise near our southern borders," the Russian leader concluded.

Earlier, the fifth multilateral meeting of secretaries of security councils on the Afghan problem was held in Moscow. The event was attended by high representatives in charge of security issues from India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Russia was represented by Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev.