BISHKEK, May 14. /TASS/. An estimated 18,000-23,000 militants, members of more than 20 different groups, are operating in Afghanistan, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu said at the 21st meeting of secretaries of relevant agencies of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states.

"The situation in Afghanistan is of particular importance for ensuring security in the SCO space. This primarily concerns the threats of terrorism and drug trafficking emanating from its territory," Shoigu said. "Kabul, to its credit, is waging a fierce armed struggle against Islamic State (a terrorist organization banned in Russia - TASS), the main ideological and political rival of the Taliban movement. According to our data, the group numbers around 3,000 members," he said.

According to various estimates, there are between 18,000 and 23,000 militants operating in Afghanistan, belonging to more than 20 different groups.

Shoigu said that in 2025, the Islamic State carried out 12 major terrorist attacks, killing 40 military servicemen and 25 civilians, and wounding more than 50 people. "There has been an increase in the influx of militants of Uyghur, Tajik, and Uzbek origin from Syria into Afghanistan from groups of the former terrorist alliance Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (banned in Russia). Taliban security agencies have organized monitoring of arriving radicals," Shoigu noted. "However, some Islamists remain outside the Afghan security services' purview."