Terrorists from Iraq and Syria are flocking to Afghanistan in large numbers, Putin said
Russian President Vladimir Putin says the situation in Afghanistan is not easy.
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the war in Iraq and Syria has led to a large influx of terrorists into Afghanistan.
According to the AFP news agency, Putin said in a video conference with the heads of the security services of the former Soviet states that the situation in Afghanistan is not easy.
"A large number of terrorists with military experience from Iraq and Syria are going to Afghanistan," he said.
He added that it was possible for terrorists to destabilize the situation in neighboring countries and try to disrupt peace.
Putin has repeatedly warned that extremist groups could take advantage of the political turmoil in Afghanistan to enter neighboring countries and the former Soviet Union as refugees and carry out terrorist acts.
Although Moscow is optimistic about the Taliban's new leadership in Kabul, the Russian Defense Ministry is concerned about instability in Central Asia because of its military bases there.
Following the Taliban's takeover, Russia has begun military exercises with the former Soviet Union's country of Tajikistan, which has a military base in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and shares a border with Afghanistan.
Tajikistan's head of national security, Simomin Yatimov, said in a video conference that he had recorded an increase in attempts to smuggle drugs, weapons and ammunition into his country from Afghanistan.
Afghanistan has long been the world's largest producer of opium and heroin, and the Taliban are funded by profits from the illicit trade.
Earlier on Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron met with Tajik leader Emomali Rakhmon in Paris and vowed to help maintain stability in the Central Asian state of Tajikistan.
Although the Taliban have said they pose no threat to Central Asian countries, the former Soviet country in the region has faced attacks by Taliban allies in the past.
Last week, Russia's ambassador to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said Russia would invite the Taliban to Moscow for international talks on Afghanistan scheduled for October 20.