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Fight against Islamic state

At least 7,000 active IS militants in Afghanistan, Russian envoy says

Zamir Kabulov also said that IS is creating a network of bases in Afghanistan where it recruits militants

MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/. There are at least 7,000 active Islamic State (IS, a terror organization, outlawed in Russia) militants in Afghanistan, Russian Special Presidential Representative for Afghanistan, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second Asia Department Zamir Kabulov told reporters on Thursday.

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Northern Afghanistan turning into springboard for international terrorism — Lavrov

"We say that there are 7,000 active [militants] plus about 3,000 reserve militants, though the information we possess may be outdated and there may be more of them already," he said.

The diplomat added that IS is creating a network of bases in Afghanistan where it recruits militants. In addition, Kabulov continued, they expect to get access to drug trafficking in order to deal with problems with financing after losing their positions in Syria and Iraq. "They are fighting with the Talibs for business and control over drug laboratories," Kabulov added.

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Afghanistan Islamic State

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