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US wants to destabilize whole region using terrorists in Afghanistan — Shoigu

The defebse minister noted that "instead of working for the reconstruction of Afghanistan after the hasty withdrawal from it, the NATO countries are trying in various ways to restore their military presence in the Central Asian region"

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu Vadim Savitsky/Russian Defence Ministry Press Office/TASS

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu

© Vadim Savitsky/Russian Defence Ministry Press Office/TASS

MINSK, May 25. /TASS/. Washington intends to use the potential of illegal armed groups in Afghanistan to destabilize the situation in the region, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at a meeting of the CSTO defense ministers in Minsk on Thursday.

"Afghanistan remains a hotbed of instability. The main threat comes from illegal armed groups that have significantly strengthened their positions in that country after the Islamic movement Taliban (a terrorist organization banned in Russia - TASS) came to power. We believe that the United States intends to use the potential of these terrorist organizations to destabilize the situation in the region," said Shoigu. "For this purpose, the redeployment of fighters from the controlled gangs in Middle East to Afghanistan has been organized."

"In the future, their infiltration into neighboring countries is possible for committing terrorist acts," Shoigu said.

"Under these conditions, we believe it is important to coordinate efforts on the Afghan track and to pay due attention to joint exercises - both bilateral and multilateral," he added.

Shoigu noted that "instead of working for the reconstruction of Afghanistan after the hasty withdrawal from it, the NATO countries are trying in various ways to restore their military presence in the Central Asian region. We regard this as a direct threat to stability there and in the CSTO space in general," the Russian defense minister said.

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Afghanistan United States Sergey Shoigu

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