Russia concerned about weapons abandoned by the West in Afghanistan

The large hotbed of instability in Afghanistan created by the West could spread to all countries of the region, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev said on Wednesday at a meeting of regional countries on Afghanistan.

Patrushev explained that this was also due to arms “abandoned by the Western coalition in enormous amounts” when troops withdrew from Afghanistan.

“We are talking about more than a thousand armored vehicles and armored personnel carriers, dozens of aircraft and helicopters, hundreds of artillery pieces, mortars, anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems, as well as hundreds of thousands of heavy and light small arms worth tens of billions of dollars,” the security chief listed as reported by TASS news agency.

According to him, these weapons can be used both to intensify the armed struggle between intra-Afghan groups and sold on the black market, including to terrorists in third countries.

He said that Washington and its allies seek to maintain old and create new hotbeds of tension around the world.

“Uniting our efforts in solving security tasks is especially important at the current stage, when the US and its allies are pursuing policies aimed at maintaining old or creating new hotbeds of tension around the world,” he said.

According to Patrushev, one of these hotbeds is Afghanistan, where “over 20 years of the presence of Western military contingents, preconditions for long-term challenges and threats” to the countries of the entire region have been consistently formed.

“In particular, the West indulged in stepping up the activities of international terrorist organizations, first of all ISIS and al-Qaeda, which swelled its ranks thanks to fighters from Iraq, Syria and some other countries. We all remember quite well the unmarked helicopters that delivered weapons and ammunition to the ISIS mercenaries in the American airspace control zone,” he noted.

In addition, the Russian security chief recalled that the Americans had contributed to the growth of drug trafficking in Afghanistan. “Today the incumbent Kabul authorities are still reaping the fruits of the chaos left by the Americans, and the situation in the socio-economic sphere is rapidly deteriorating,” he summarized.

Meanwhile, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran Ali Shamkhani said at the meeting that the crisis in Iraq, the creation of Daesh, as well as the conflict in Ukraine are results of US policies.

“Peace, stability and progress in Afghanistan are our priority, [the priority] of all those seated around this table. We believe and proceed from the fact that the presence of the United States destabilizes the region. Afghanistan confirms this. The events in Iraq, the creation of the Islamic State in the Levant region, and also, the events in Ukraine occurred as a result of arrogant actions by the United States. The people of Ukraine have fallen victim to US aims,” he said.

The fifth meeting of the secretaries of national councils from the countries of Central Asia, Pakistan, India and China on Afghanistan is taking place in Moscow on Wednesday.