MOSCOW, July 28. /TASS/. The size of the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, outlawed in Russia) in Afghanistan has reached about 6,000 militants, increasing threefold since the Taliban (outlawed in Russia) came to power, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan and Director of the Foreign Ministry’s Second Asian Department Zamir Kabulov said at a briefing on Thursday.

"Approximately, tentatively, their number has reached 6,000. If you recall, after the Taliban came to power and their harsh actions with regards to the IS militants, their number was about over 2,000, so even with a rough guess this is a threefold increase," he said.

"Before the Taliban came to power, there had been over 10,000 IS militants," the diplomat noted.

The envoy added that this is the most negative aspect in the development of the situation in Afghanistan since it is dangerous not only for Kabul but also for the national interests of Russia’s partners such as Iran, Pakistan and China.

According to the diplomat, as a result of sanctions, the Taliban movement lacks financial resources in order to maintain the effectiveness of its counter-terrorist forces. In his opinion, the West intentionally creates these conditions in order to strengthen the terrorist group.