Uzbekistan worried about ISIL activity near its borders
TASHKENT. March 23 (Interfax) - The recent appearance of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters in North Afghanistan is a source of growing concern for security experts in Uzbekistan, the local online media said.
"The presence of ISIL on the Central Asian doorstep means that the potential threat has gone beyond terror attacks and hostilities," Uzbek National Security Service analyst Bakhtiyer Sharafov said.
Afghan security services have confirmed that ISIL militants are in hiding along the border of Turkmenistan and have intensified their activity along the Uzbek border.
The fight against ISIL is turning hybrid, the expert said. "This is a combination of military and non-military methods," Sharafov pointed out.
In addition to waging a war in Afghanistan, the militants have sent their emissaries to Uzbekistan and other Central Asian republics on propaganda missions, and the Uzbek security services are aware of this threat, he said.