The latest unrest in Uzbekistan's Andizhan is related not only to the country's internal situation, but also to the instability in neighboring Afghanistan, said Nikolai Patrushev, director of Russia's Federal Service of Security, on Friday in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan.

At a press conference after the 18th meeting of top security and intelligence officials from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Patrushev said that though the international society has launched a series of measures to fight against terrorism, in Afghanistan there still exist bases for the training of terrorists, where a great quantity of drugs were produced as well.

All these factors are exerting a negative influence on the situation in the whole region, and therefore the CIS countries must strengthen cooperation in the fight against international terrorism, warned Patrushev.

On May 13, riots plunged Andizhan, Uzbekistan's fourth largest city, into chaos after thousands of armed protesters set free prisoners and clashed with security forces.

The CIS meeting in Astana brought together the leaders of the security and intelligence services of Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia,Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan and Ukraine. Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have observer status.

During the meeting, representatives from the countries discussed such issues as taking practical measures to fight jointly against international terrorism and extremism, Patrushev said.

The participants also signed a protocol on the creation of a unified database containing fingerprints of people accused of terrorism.

Source: Xinhua