No security threat emanates from Afghanistan: Muttaqi

KABUL (Pajhwok): Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has said that there was no serious security threat inside nor emanating from Afghanistan, an official said on Wednesday.

During a meeting with the Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov acting Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi stressed over expanding political and economic relations with Russia, said Deputy Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hafiz Zia Ahmad.

Muttaqi believed that the security had improved in Afghanistan and fortunately, there is no serious security threat inside nor emanating from Afghanistan.

On its Twitter handle, the spokesperson wrote: “The meeting focused on detailed discussions of political, security, and economic cooperation between Afghanistan and Russia.”

The Russian Ambassador Dmitry Zhirnov also stressed maintaining close ties between the two countries, expressing readiness for future visits by various government delegations between the two countries.

The meeting comes at a time when The Russia-led block Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has repeatedly expressed its concern about an increasing risk that terrorist groups from Afghanistan will infiltrate its member countries.

The Russian news agency, TASS, quoted SCTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov as saying lately that there was an increasing risk that terrorist groups and extremist ideas will infiltrate the territories of CSTO allies.

“Complex threats coming from Afghanistan are of particular concern,” he pointed out, addressing a meeting of senior officials from the organization’s Secretariat and Joint Headquarters.

Tasmagambetov noted that apart from various terrorist groups, the forces behind illicit drug production and trafficking were also strengthening their positions in Afghanistan.

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