UN, September 25. /TASS/. Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Vladimir Norov has warned of potential terrorist access to radioactive and poisonous materials during his speech at the UN Security Council session.
According to him, factors of instability caused by the mounting terrorist threat and "the fusion of terrorism and transnational organized crime" are becoming more common in the world today. "Foreign terrorist militants are returning from hotspots and are trying to create new bases in various parts of the world, namely in Eurasia," Norov said. "The threat of terrorist access to radioactive and poisonous materials, of the use of new forms of financing and weaponry is growing."
In this regard, the SCO chief stressed that the fight against terrorism and related threats is "one of the key priorities of the organization’s activity since its establishment."
The secretary general also revealed some statistics, saying that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) thwarted more than 360 terrorist attacks in 2018, and, according to him, did a great job to block the channels for financing extremists.
"The SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure headquartered in Tashkent is operating efficiently. Last year alone, with its coordinating role more than 360 crimes of terrorist nature were thwarted at the stage of preparation, more than 80 clandestine terrorist cells were neutralized, and more than 67 militants were liquidated, including ten leaders of terrorist groups," Norov stressed.
"Big job was done to stop terrorism financing, illegal trafficking of arms and explosives, recruiting via the Internet," the top SCO official noted.