KABUL, which he said remained the meeting point of global terrorist networks, including the Islamic State.
Ghani told the Munich Security Conference in Germany: “The threat of this ecology (of terror) is global, but Afghanistan is the meeting ground of this global ecology. Lest we forget this and take our eyes elsewhere there will be consequences.”
The president cautioned the Islamic State group was quickly moving to a stage in Afghanistan where it was able to organise, orient, decide and take actions, calling for a strong global action against the group.
He assured the conference his country was working to deal with internal challenges, including terrorism, but it would need continued global support.
“And it is very important not to isolate the events from Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya from what is unfolding in Afghanistan,” he said.
Without naming any country, Ghani said states in his region had been deliberately sponsoring “non-state” actors to undermine security and hoped “those days are over.”
Ghani expressed his gratitude to the nearly 4,000 foreign troops who lost their lives in Afghanistan as part of the NATO combat mission.
He said his country’s religious scholars and both houses of parliament had endorsed the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with the US and a Status of Force Agreement (SOFA) with NATO.
According to Ghani, the feature of criminality was also a driver of global conflict, something overlooked. Global criminal economy was $1.7 trillion a year and criminalization part of Afghanistan economy was among top 20 contributors, he said.
hg/rm/ma
