The border services of the Central Asian countries and Russia have said that international terrorist organizations are increasing their activity in northern Afghanistan and are trying to engage in drug trafficking on the southern borders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, the press service of Uzbekistan's State Border Protection of the National Security Service, said on Wednesday
TASHKENT (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th March, 2020) The border services of the Central Asian countries and Russia have said that international terrorist organizations are increasing their activity in northern Afghanistan and are trying to engage in drug trafficking on the southern borders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, the press service of Uzbekistan's State Border Protection of the National Security Service, said on Wednesday.
According to the press service, earlier in the day the CIS members held a meeting of the heads of border services of competent authorities in the Uzbek city of Samarkand. The meeting was attended by delegations from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, as well as the Coordination Service of the Council of Border Troops Commanders of CIS member states.
"During the discussions, we noted an aggravation of the situation in the northern border regions of Afghanistan and the activities of international terrorist organizations," the press service wrote in a Telegram channel.
The statement added that the meeting's participants also discussed the increasing scale of drug production controlled by the militants, and drug trafficking in the Central Asian countries, along the so-called northern route.
The route of illicit trafficking of opiates from Afghanistan passes through some Central Asian countries, including Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, to Russia and further to Europe.
Conflict-stricken Afghanistan continues to serve as a breeding ground for various insurgent and militant groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State terrorist organizations (both groups banned in Russia). The government has struggled to contain the Taliban movement for almost two decades.
