Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Russia, Pakistan form Anti-Terror Military Cooperation Commission

Russia, Pakistan form  Anti-Terror Military Cooperation Commission

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — Russia and Pakistan plan to establish a commission on military cooperation to counter the Islamic State threat in the region, accusing the United States of downplaying the terrorist group’s dangerous “proliferation” in Afghanistan.
“We have confirmed Russia’s readiness to continue boosting Pakistan’s counterterrorism capacity, which is in the entire region’s interests,” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday in Moscow.
Speaking to reporters along with his Pakistani counterpart, Khawaja Asif, the Russian official said fighting terrorism is one of the priority areas of cooperation between the two countries. He said joint military exercises between Russian and Pakistani special forces, which began in 2016, will continue this year.
Lavrov raised Moscow’s “very serious suspicions” about efforts the NATO-led coalition is undertaking in Afghanistan to curb the threat. According to Russian and Pakistani data, he said, thousands of IS terrorists are present in northern and eastern Afghan border regions and they continue to grow in number. This is increasing the risk of the “terrorists’ penetration” into Central Asia and Russia. (VOA)