Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said at a briefing that since the Islamic Emirate came to power, the number of ISIS (Daesh) militants has increased by threefold.
“Approximately, tentatively, their number has reached 6,000. If you recall, after the Taliban came to power and their harsh actions with regards to the IS militants, their number was about over 2,000, so even with a rough guess this is a threefold increase,” he said.
As quoted by TASS, the envoy added that this is the most negative aspect in the development of the situation in Afghanistan since it is dangerous not only for Kabul but also for the national interests of Russia’s partners such as Iran, Pakistan and China.
“Before the Taliban came to power, there had been over 10,000 IS militants,” Kabulov said.
However, the Islamic Emirate denied any claims regarding the rise in Daesh militants in the country.
Qari Yousef Ahmadi, spokesman of the PM, said that ISIS has been suppressed in Afghanistan.
“We reject Zamir Kabulov’s allegation that there are 6,000 ISIS fighters operating in Afghanistan. There might be a small number, and it can’t create any problem,” he said.
Meanwhile, analysts in the country have different views on this issue.
“It is truly something to worry about. Because Russia and Kabulov are present in the region and the embassy is gathering information using a variety of ways, I believe that the information about them is quite accurate,” said Waheedullah Faqiri, political analyst.
“Kabulov’s remarks are not true. They want to make problems for the Afghan government,” said Sayed Akbar, another political analyst.
Earlier, the Russian president expressed concern about the growing number of ISIS fighters in northern Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, the Russian envoy for Afghanistan, Za mir Kabulov, said that his country is ready to receive delegates of both Afghanistan’s authorities and opposition forces, in case they are interested.
In an interview with Russian news agency TASS, Kabulov said that Russian officials have repeatedly declared they will host such meetings.
“As for visits to Moscow by representatives of both the new Afghan authorities and opposition forces, we have repeatedly confirmed our readiness to demonstrate hospitality if they are interested in that,” Kabulov told TASS.
Meanwhile, a source close to the Resistance Front told TOLOnews that Russia had mediated a meeting recently between the Islamic Emirate and the Resistance Front, in which Ahmad Massoud met Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, first deputy of the PM, in Moscow.
The meeting has not been officially confirmed yet, and Islamic Emirate’ officials have neither confirmed nor denied the meeting.
“There is no official information on hand about the trip of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar to any country,” said Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate.
This unconfirmed report follows a meeting of the Islamic Emirate delegation led by Amir Khan Mutaqqi with Ahmad Massoud, the leader of the Resistance Front, and Ismail Khan, a jihadi leader, in Tehran.
“Wherever the meeting between Mullah Baradar and Ahmad Massoud is held, it will be a good move for preventing a war in the country. The interests of Afghanistan should be considered,” said Yahya Chawosh.
Recently Norway hosted meetings between a delegation of the Islamic Emirate and Afghan women and as well as representatives of several countries in Oslo, and there were reports released that Abdul Ghani Baradar had left Kabul for Moscow to meet Ahmad Massoud, however, the Russian ministry of foreign affairs denied the meeting.—Tolonews
