Some 3,500 Daesh militants operating inside Afghanistan: Russian officials
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High-ranking Russian officials say some 3,500 members of the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group are wreaking havoc in Afghanistan.
"ISIL (Daesh) emergence in Afghanistan constitutes the immediate danger. Just think about it: ISIL really appeared in Afghanistan a year ago, and there are now 3,500 people under its command plus sympathizers, who can turn into militants very quickly," said Zamir Kabulov, the Russian special presidential envoy to Afghanistan and the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second Department for Asia, at an international conference on Afghanistan in Moscow on Thursday.
He added that Daesh militants’ tactics in Afghanistan mirror those being pursued by the extremists in Iraq, Syria, Libya and some other African states.
"They find the most authoritative local leader, who has rivals. He is offered cooperation and assistance in eliminating the rivals. This is done. When it's over, he himself is killed. Subsequently, the whole district, province, or a larger territory falls into ISIL's hands. ISIL will expand the scope of its influence in a creeping way if not confronted," Kabulov said.