Presidential adviser says roughly 4,000 IS militants still in Afghanistan

World November 23, 2017, 18:16

There are 3,000 to 4,000 IS militants in Afghanistan, and the total number of foreign fighters in terror organizations there stands at about 10,000 people, Afghanistan’s security advisor says

MOSCOW, November 23. /TASS/. There are 3,000 to 4,000 IS (Islamic State, a terror organization, outlawed in Russia) militants in Afghanistan, and the total number of foreign fighters in terror organizations there stands at about 10,000 people, Afghanistan’s National Security Advisor Mohammad Hanif Atmar told reporters on Thursday.

"We estimate roughly that their number will be between three to four thousand," he said. "These are primarily mercenaries, criminals from Pakistan, the majority of them are from Pakistan, there are also some Afghans among them, but they also primarily made up of the IMU, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan that have pledged their allegiance to DAESH."

"If you look at the foreign fighters in Afghanistan, the total number we estimate to be around 10 thousand foreign fighters," he continued. "Among them DAESH is one key terrorist group.However if, as I said yesterday at the joint meeting, we come together, DAESH is not a threat that we cannot defeat."

Atmar stressed that now the terrorists benefit from the lack of cooperation between the key regional players.

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