Lavrov: "Islamic State" is getting closer to Russia

Members of the terrorist organization "Islamic State" have already been noticed in northern Afghanistan. This was stated by the Foreign Minister of Russia.

 
"There are reports that their emissaries have been sighted in northern Afghanistan, which means they are closing in on Central Asia and, therefore, on Russia's borders," he said in an interview with Kommersant.

According to the Foreign Minister, it is necessary to take measures to prevent the capture by militant groups of new territories. "The ultimate objective is to eliminate their dominance over large spaces, Iraq, Syria."

In October 2014 US Secretary of State John Kerry said that he agreed with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia on strengthening cooperation in intelligence activities in the fight against IS.

Russia called the reports incorrect and later it was reported that Sergei Lavrov actually said in response that sharing intelligence was part of a bilateral presidential commission for the United States, where there was an anti-terror group. But the activities of the commission and its structures was discontinued in the United States unilaterally. Lavrov added that there is no agreement with the United States on intelligence transfer regarding "Islamic State", RBC notes.

In October, Bloomberg reported that the commander of one of the groups of "Islamic State", Tarhan Batirashvili, known under the name "Omar Chechen", threatened to arrange a trip to the southern regions of Russia. In mid-November, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, said on his Instagram account that Tarhan Batirashvili had been killed. In early December, the media reported the murder of one of Batirashvili’s close associates during clashes in the town of Kobán.