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More than 20 terrorist organizations operate in Afghanistan — Security Council’s chief

Nikolay Patrushev stressed that the main sources of funding of terrorist activities remained the same - drug trafficking and the levying of a so-called tax on organized crime rings that manufacture and traffic narcotic drugs

NEW DELHI, November 10. /TASS/. More than two dozen terrorist organizations having a total strength of 23,000 militants are operating in Afghanistan at the moment, according to different estimates, the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev told Russian media in New Delhi following multilateral consultations on Afghanistan on Wednesday.

He said the participants in the meeting in the first place had discussed the security situation in Afghanistan and also its regional and global effects.

"The worst threat coming from Afghanistan is terrorism. According to different estimates, there are more than 20 terrorist organizations in Afghanistan. Their total strength exceeds 23,000 militants," Patrushev said.

He stressed that the main sources of funding of terrorist activities remained the same - drug trafficking and the levying of a so-called tax on organized crime rings that manufacture and traffic narcotic drugs.

"Afghanistan remains one of the world’s largest producers of opiates in the world, its share of the global market reaching 90%," Patrushev said.