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Daesh Troops Redeployed to Afghanistan, Pakistan – CIS Anti-Terrorism Center

ODINTSOVO (Moscow region) (Sputnik) - Daesh is gaining a new foothold for its troops' deployment in Afghanistan and Pakistan instead of the territories lost in Syria and Iraq, Col. Gen. Andrey Novikov, the head of the Commonwealth of Independent States Anti-Terrorism Center (CIS ATC), said Tuesday.
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"After the elimination of a great part of the IS [Daesh] combat core, its ‘fragments’ have been evacuated to other regions… In Afghanistan and Pakistan, a new base for IS [Daesh] deployment is now being formed to replace the ones lost in Syria and Iraq," Novikov said at the meeting of the CIS member states' anti-terrorist centers heads.

The US has been accused numerous times of providing various forms of support to Daesh and other terrorist groups, operating in the region.

Earlier this month, Chief of Iranian General Staff Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri accused the US of transferring Daesh terrorists to Afghanistan after the jihadist group's defeats in Syria and Iraq.

READ MORE: Is There a 'Secret US Hand' Supporting Daesh in Afghanistan?

The same month, Damascus said that US air power had been used on numerous occasions to rescue terrorist leaders from their imminent destruction at the hands of the Syrian army and even to stage 'accidental' attacks on Syrian forces as they advanced against the militants.

The US-coalition, however, has denied all accusations.

On Drug Trafficking

Speaking further, Novikov said that Daesh would try to seize control of the heroin traffic in Afghanistan.

"Taking into account the information received from our partners, we see a probable scenario of IS [increasing] activity in Afghanistan in the near future. There are reasons to believe that IS will seek to get control of the heroin traffic," Novikov said.

The CIS Anti-Terrorism Center was established in June 2000 by the council of the heads of states of the former Soviet Republics. The Center is headquartered in the Russian capital, Moscow, and its representative office in Central Asia is located in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Afghanistan is currently suffering from political, social and security instability due to the activity of the Taliban and the Islamic State terrorist organization.

On Cooperation Efforts

Information provided by the Anti-Terrorism Center made it possible to detain nine and identify 90 persons involved in financing terrorism during Operation Barrier-2017, head of CIS ATC, Novikov said.

"In the course of Operation Barrier, based on information provided by the CIS ATC on persons wanted for committing terrorist crimes and for being mercenaries, nine were detained and 90 persons involved in the financing of terrorism were identified in 2017," Novikov said during a meeting of the heads of national anti-terrorism centers of the CIS member states.

He added that the Tral-Antiterror-Identification operation, organized by the CIS ATC jointly with partners from the penitentiary bodies of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia, helped to establish the location of 26 persons wanted for committing crimes of a terrorist nature.

"In 2017, the CIS ATC in cooperation with the CIS Council of Heads of Financial Intelligence Units, CIS Council of Commanders of Border Troops and CIS Council of Heads of Penitentiary Bodies carried out a set of measures to ensure the effectiveness of interstate search for persons who committed terrorist crimes and are hiding from criminal prosecution," Novikov said.

Joint anti-terrorist exercises will be held in August and September this year in six CIS countries and the final stage will take place in Kyrgyzstan, Novikov noted.

"In August-September this year, the exercises will be held on the territory of six states, which will be held in two stages, the bulk of the final stage of the exercises will be held on the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic," he said.

Novikov noted that the CIS ATC has been training the so-called military-police operations, which will be an international shield against threats that could exacerbate the situation in the Central Asian region.

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