Terrorism threat to Central Asia comes from Afghanistan: CIS official

The situation in Afghanistan is far from stable and the biggest terrorist threat to Central Asian countries comes mainly from that country, a spokesman for the secretariat of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) said on Wednesday.

Gen. Eduard Melnikov made the remarks at a meeting of leaders of anti-terror forces of the CIS countries in Kazakhstan.

Despite the stern measures by the international anti-terror coalition led by the United States, remnants of the al-Qaida and Taliban are still active in Afghanistan, he said.

What's more, drug trafficking is on the rise in Afghanistan and conflicts between tribes still exist and the country remains on the verge of a civil war. All these pose a huge threat to the security situation in Central Asia, said Melnikov.

The al-Qaida decided to regroup as early as 2002 and began infiltrating into the Central Asian countries. Evidence showed that the Islamic Liberation Party, a terrorist group which has close links with the al-Qaida, was involved in the riots that erupted in the Uzbek city of Andijan in May.

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 three-day meeting of leaders of the anti-terror forces of the CIS countries is being held in the port city of of Ala-too in west Kazakhstan.

During the meeting, security services of Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine will hold a joint anti-terror drill.

Source: Xinhua