Kazakhstan should enhance protection of nuclear facilities from ISIS: expert

Kazakhstan needs to increase security at its nuclear facilities to safeguard them from the ISIS. The call was made by Senior Research Fellow at the Kazakhstani Institute of Strategic Studies Dauren Aben during a round table discussion called  Internaional Terrorism: New Challenges to International Community held in Astana on November 23, Tengrinews reports.

“Our country of course does not possess nuclear weapons. But we have a developed nuclear industry. We have ambitious goals and there are fairly many nuclear facilities. Of course, they are protected well enough, but one should not forget that terrorists have become more sophisticated and complacency is unacceptable. We must constantly enhance their (nuclear facilities) protection,” Dauren Aben said.

Director of the Kazakhstani Institute of Strategic Studies Yerlan Karin also highlighted the increasing threat posed by terrorist groups, in particular by the ISIS. “The world is witnessing a growing threat posed by terrorism. Terrorism is high on the agenda now given the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and the crash of A321 (Russian plane) in Egypt, and experts have long been emphasizing that the terrorist threat was increasing. According to the recent data of the Center for the Study of Problems of Terrorism, 13,000 terrorist attacks occurred last year killing over 30,000 people. This is 80 percent more than in 2013, where different attacks and incidents claimed the lives of 18,000 people,” Yerlan Karin elaborated.

According to the recent study made by the Institute for Economics and Peace, two terrorist groups - Nigeria-based Boko Haram and Daish (ISIS) - are responsible for more than a half of the deaths from terror attacks in 162 countries, he said.

The study also found that five countries -  Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan and Syria - accounted for 78 percent of deaths in 2014.

According to Yerlan Karin, terrorism was gaining momentum. However, there were other terrorist organizations apart from ISIS and Boko Haram that were active, including Al-Qaeda.

“This year, aside from Syria and Iraq, the situation has significantly deteriorated in Afghanistan, In 2013, a total number of attacks in Afghanistan grew by 40 percent, while the number of people killed increased by 45 percent. The situation in Afghanistan is exacerbated by the presence of Daish group (ISIS) in this region,” he said.

The round table discussion was organized by the Kazakhstan Institute of Strategic Studies established by Kazakh President in 1993 to study strategic aspects of foreign and domestic policies, socioeconomic development of Kazakhstan and analyze the situation for the country's leaders. The Institute regularly holds conferences, round-tables and international forums.

By Assel Satubaldina, editing by Tatyana Kuzmina