(MENAFN- Pajhwok Afghan News) PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Pakistan and Russia have voiced their serious concerns at the increasing presence of the Islamic State (Daesh) militant group in Afghanistan.
€œWe are very preoccupied by what is happening in Afghanistan and by the expansion of IS influence,€ Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters on Tuesday.
After talks with his Pakistani counterpart Khawaja Mohammad Asif in Moscow, Lavrov said the Daesh presence in the north and east of Afghanistan already amounted to a thousand people.
€œMoscow is very concerned about the security threat this creates for former Soviet republics and Russia.€ He feared situation enhanced the risk of terrorists entering the region, including Russia and beyond.
For his part, Asif also called the proliferation of Islamic State terrorists in Afghanistan a cause for concern for Pakistan. The group€™s relocation from the Middle East to Afghanistan was a threat to Pakistan, Central Asia and Russia, he agreed.
"There is absolutely no real acknowledgement by Kabul and Washington of such a large presence or proliferation of Daesh in Afghanistan," he was quoted as saying in a statement from the Foreign Office in Islamabad.
Both ministers said they had been trying to promote peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. Pakistan supported Russia€™s role in developing a regional approach to Afghanistan, Asif said.
The two foreign ministers agreed there was no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan. They vowed close coordination on all Afghanistan-related processes for a regional solution to the conflict.
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