MOSCOW, November 3. /TASS/. The situation in Afghanistan may prompt refugees to move to Central Asia and terrorists may penetrate into the CIS together with them. Secretary of Russia’s Security Council Nikolay Patrushev said at a meeting of CIS security chiefs on Thursday.

Amid the economic crisis in Afghanistan, risks exist that the migration situation may deteriorate seriously, Patrushev warned. In particular, after the Taliban radical militant group (outlawed in Russia) seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021, a mass exodus of Afghan citizens to other countries began, he added.

"A risk exists that the refugees will move not only to Iran and Pakistan, which are currently receiving over 80% of migrants, but also to Central Asian states. This may also lead to the situation that members of international terrorist organizations, which today feel themselves comfortable on Afghan soil, will penetrate into our countries," the secretary of Russia’s Security Council warned.

Patrushev assured his CIS counterparts that Russia was ready as before to cooperate on the counter-terror track.

The serious social and economic situation in Afghanistan, in particular, amid the US freeze of Afghan financial assets, creates conditions for terrorist organizations to build up their potential, which is fraught with the growth of instability in the CIS space, he warned.

"Meanwhile, the Americans themselves are fighting terrorism only verbally. It should not be forgotten that the ISIL [the Islamic State terror organization], Al-Qaeda and the Taliban movement [all these terrorist groups are outlawed in Russia] were created precisely by the Americans who are still actively using them for attaining their geopolitical goals," the secretary of Russia’s Security Council stressed.