Afghanistan territory used by terrorist from Central Asia, China and Russia: Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai

Terrorists from Central Asia, China, Russia and other countries use the territory of Afghanistan, said the President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai.

Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai took part in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Ufa, Bashkortostan on July 10 along with Presidents of Kazakhstan, Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Currently, Afghanistan acts as an observer state within the SCO.

The President of Afghanistan called SCO member states to stop viewing Afghanistan as a source of terrorist threat and instability.

"Speaking about our main enemies, I can say that they are terrorism and illegal drug trade. Where is the source or terrorism? First of all, many terrorists come from your countries and use our territory to destabilize the situation in your countries and other regions. We have to realize where the roots of the problem are. It should be noted that these people do not have issues with the government of Afghanistan. They are not fighting against the government of Afghanistan. Only if we come to realize this, we will be able to effectively solve the issue," Ghani said.

"Terrorists from Central Asia, China, Pakistan and Russia are using our territory and state as a target. There are also terrorists from South African countries, Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. They are our mutual enemy," he added.

The President of Afghanistan stressed the importance of fighting against illegal drug trade as it is directly connected with terrorism.

"There is no doubt that we must combat drug trade, because it serves as a source of financing for terrorism," Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai said. He added that in the past three days two important leaders of Daish had been eliminated.

According to the President of Afghanistan, 120 thousand militarymen were involved in combating terrorism.

Presidents of SCO member states, too, spoke about terrorism and importance of solving the Afghan security issue. President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev also focused his speech on the issue of terrorism that claimed five times more lives in the 21st century than ever before. According to Nazarbayev, 150 thousand people fell victims of terrorism. 

"Over 80% of these cases take place in Asia, Middle East and Africa. Almost 70% of crimes against humanity were committed by these four organizations: Daish, Boko Haram, Taliban and Al Qaeda. These data shows the real threat to the wellbeing of our countries and regional peace and safety. The ideologies and methods of the modern evil are at odds of with canons and philosophies of all the religions," Nazarbayev said.

The Kazakh President emphasized the importance of creating a single international body combating the terrorist threat.

"The SCO needs to contribute to establishing a dialogue between the members of the international community that are ready to combat violent extremism. That is why it should be brought to the attention of the UN Assembly to create a united international network combating terrorism. I hope that the SCO programs against terrorism, extremism and separatism will become universal and the starting point in our mutual goal," Nazarbayev said.

The President of Kazakhstan agreed with Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai about the importance of countering sources of financing of terrorism. He added that it required international cooperation and legal establishment of ways to find and freeze the property belonging to terrorist organizations. 

Nazarbayev called the SCO member-states to support UN's work on prevention of manifestations of violent extremism. 'International experience shows that expenses on forecasting and preparing against natural disasters and emergency situations are 15 times smaller than the expenses on remedying the consequences of these events. In this context, Kazakhstan proposes to undertake proactive measures and develop an SCO concept of sustainable development and preventative measures against such threats," Nazarbayev concluded.

Writing by Gyuzel Kamalova, editing by Tatyana Kuzmina