ISIL eyeing Afghanistan as base for spreading its influence into CIS - Russian General Staff
MOSCOW. Oct 8 (Interfax-AVN) - The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has spread into Afghanistan since 2014; its emissaries are coming to Afghanistan from the Iraqi and Syrian conflict zones, head of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate Col. Gen. Igor Sergun has said.
"ISIL has been using escalating tensions in Afghanistan to strengthen its positions in Central Asia as a whole," he said at the International Conference on Afghanistan on Thursday.
"The main task of the extremists at this stage is to recruit fighters for the conflict in the Middle East and to gain additional sources of funding," he said.
"At the same time, ISIL views the territory of Afghanistan as a base for spreading its influence into CIS Central Asian republics, which may present a real threat to the security of Russia in the future," Sergun said.