MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/. Instead of fulfilling the UN mandate in Afghanistan, the United States has been trying to gain foothold in the country and increase Kabul’s dependence from Washington, Russia’s Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev told the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily.
"We see that in an attempt to gain a foothold in the country for years to come, the United States has been creating a system in which Afghanistan is becoming directly dependent on US weapons and military equipment," Patrushev said, adding that US announcements about the possible withdrawal of NATO troops from the country "are in reality not being put into practice."
"Overall, Washington’s presence in Afghanistan not just destabilized the situation, it put the clock in the country back for decades," the Russian official continued, adding that none of tasks, set by the relevant UN Security Council mandate, has been fulfilled, including the elimination of terrorists.
At present, the number of members of the Taliban and Islamic State terrorist groups, outlawed in Russia, stands at 60,000 and 4,000 people, respectively, Patrushev said.
"The official government has failed to establish control over 60% of regions in the country, while the production of drugs on the country’s territory grew by 43 times," he went on.
February 15 marks 30 years since the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, deployed in the country in 1979.