Vassily Nebenzia: There are at least 10 000 ISIS fighters active in Afghanistan

The Russian envoy to the UN said during UN Security Council’s extraordinary session on Afghanistan held Tuesday 26 June that 10 000 Daesh (ISIL/ISIS) fighters are active in Afghanistan.

The Russian envoy to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said: “one factor in the deteriorating situation [in Afghanistan] was ISIL, whose 10,000 fighters were active in 9 of the country’s 34 provinces, organizing terrorist attacks and consolidating its positions in the north, turning it into a springboard for its expansion into Central Asia”.

Nebenzia also added: “the Russian Federation expected a report on air space controlled by those partners, and more broadly, called for greater efforts to remove terrorists from the north”.

On the other hand, the Indian envoy to the UN Syed Akbaruddin said the Taliban’s spring offensive, planned and launched from safe havens in the neighbourhood of Afghanistan, had taken many lives.

“Those supporting the terrorists targeting Afghanistan have not been deterred,” he said, adding that despite international efforts, there remained those who were providing sanctuaries to terrorist organizations such as the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, ISIL, Al-Qaida, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.

Source: DID Press