BISHKEK, February 16. /TASS/. The West’s geopolitical schemes encompass Afghanistan with over 20 terrorist organizations, fielding over 23,000 militants, now based in the country, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev asserted at a meeting in Bishkek of security council secretaries devoted to discussing Afghan issues.

"Afghanistan is one of the links in the chain of the West’s endless geopolitical schemes. The main responsibility for the current difficult situation in Afghanistan should squarely lie with the US and its allies," the top Russian security official said.

"Over the 20 years of its presence there, Washington did nothing to improve the situation. It is necessary to strive for [accountability by the US so] it will take on the main expenditures for the post-conflict recovery of the Afghan economy. And, as we can see, this is not happening," Patrushev added.

According to him, "The West planted a ticking time bomb by abandoning an enormous amount of weapons when it retreated [from Afghanistan]."

"Nowadays, [these weapons] are being used to ramp up the fighting between intra-Afghan groups; they are sold on the black market and end up in the hands of terrorists in third countries," the official stated. "In addition to the West’s efforts toward increasing its presence in Afghanistan that I mentioned, I would like to note in particular its attempts to use terrorist groups toward this end. According to our estimates, there are about 20 international terrorist organizations in Afghanistan fielding over 23,000 militants," Patrushev noted.