Russia blasts West, says Daesh 'acquiring territories' in Afghanistan
Russia’s Foreign Minister Lavrov says Daesh is taking over territories across Afghanistan, excoriating Western armies for allowing the terrorist group to take root in the country.
“We are worried about this, because ISIL (Daesh) is actively acquiring territories - mostly in Northern Afghanistan, right on the borders of countries that are our allies, amid the irresponsible behavior of some officials in Kabul and amid the hasty withdrawal of NATO, which is unable to report the achievement of at least some objectives," Russia’s state news agency TASS quoted Lavrov as saying on Friday .
"It is important to shine the spotlight on Afghanistan, where ISIL members are actively concentrating their forces, and they do so, taking advantage of an irredeemably drawn-out process of hammering out real peace negotiations,” he added.
Lavrov said Moscow holds consultations with regional member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in efforts to guarantee security in Central Asia in the face of surging terrorist operations by Daesh.
Current CSTO members are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. Afghanistan and Serbia hold observer status in the Eurasian military alliance.
Lavrov’s remarks followed press reports about the evacuation of the largest US-occupied military base in Afghanistan, located in the ancient city of Bagram near the nation’s capital of Kabul, 20 years after the invasion of Afghanistan.
US troops vanish in dead of night
Afghanistan's district administrator for Bagram, Darwaish Raufi, said Friday the American departure was done overnight without any coordination with local officials.
Consequently, Raufi added, following the early Friday evacuation, dozens of local looters stormed through the unprotected gates before Afghan forces regained control.
As of this week, most other NATO soldiers have already quietly left Afghanistan. According to press reports, a majority of European troops has left with little ceremony — a stark contrast to the dramatic and public show of force and unity when NATO allies lined up to back the US military invasion in 2001.
The US has so far refused to announce when the last American soldier would leave Afghanistan, citing security concerns.
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