ABU DHABI, March 23. /TASS/. Afghanistan will be able to stop the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, but needs additional support, Ajmal Obaid Abidy, an aide to Afghanistan's president, said on Monday.
The security forces are able to defend Afghanistan, he said. "Of course, we need additional support, including assistance in the training of security forces. We are confident that our country will become a place where IS finds its end."
President Ashraf Ghani and Prime Minister of Afghanistan Abdullah Abdullah arrived in Washington on Sunday.
On the eve of his visit to the United States, President of the Islamic Republic Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai for the first time officially acknowledged the existence of the problem of the growing influence of the IS extremist group in the territory of Afghanistan. Upon arrival in Washington, he gave an interview to the American National Public Radio (NPR), in which he stated that the authorities in Kabul are going to do everything possible to prevent the consolidation of IS in Afghanistan. Asked about IS, Ghani expressed concern that "terrorism is morphing into a system. ... It’s becoming sophisticated. And more than anything else, it’s controlling immense resources." In Afghanistan, the Islamic State, he said, is "posing a threat, but we are determined to make sure that they do not do the kind of atrocities that they’ve managed so well in Syria, Iraq, Libya or Yemen."
According to Afghan experts, the issue of danger posed by the terrorist organization could be one of the key items in the negotiations with the American leadership and a formal reason for extending the presence of US troops in Afghanistan.
According to the Afghan presidential aide, "without regional and international cooperation, we cannot stand alone against this threat." "Stability in Afghanistan is an integral part of regional security," he said. "Without a doubt the United States can do a great deal. In addition to issues of assistance in countering international terrorism, it is planned to discuss the development of the Afghan economy, overcoming its dependency on foreign financing."