Kamchybek Tashiev, the head of Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security, reported a significant increase in terrorist groups operating in northern Afghanistan during a security conference in Bishkek.

Tashiev highlighted the emerging threat that these groups pose to the southern borders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which includes nations such as Azerbaijan, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Tajikistan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Moldova.

The Russian state news agency TASS reported on Friday that during the CIS security chiefs’ meeting in Bishkek, Tashiev underscored the severity of the threat, noting that the concentration of terrorists in Afghanistan’s northern provinces is now so significant that it jeopardises the integrity of the CIS’s southern borders.

In his address to the CIS security leaders, Tashiev stressed that the threat from northern Afghanistan demands “special attention”.

He pointed out that terrorist organisations now pose a global threat, affecting countries irrespective of their geographical location.

He also referred to a terrorist attack on the outskirts of Moscow on March 22, emphasising, “Today, terrorism represents our most significant challenge and poses a threat to the entire international security system.”

The head of Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security noted that international terrorist organisations, supported by unnamed backers, are keen to exploit political and social tensions within various countries, though specific details were not disclosed.