Putin Points to the “Soaring” Threat of ISIS in the Region

Addressing the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) heads of state at Dushanbe on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow will keep providing military-technical support to Damascus to counter the growing threat of ISIS which has spilled across the region, Tass reported.

“I would like to say that we support the Syrian government in [the] fight against terrorist aggression, we assist it and will keep rendering necessary military-technical assistance to it,” he said, urging other countries to join the fight. “It is evident that without an active participation of the Syrian authorities and military, without participation of the Syrian army inside the territory, as the military say, in [a] fight against Islamic State, terrorists cannot be expelled from that country and from the region on the whole, the multi-national and multi-confessional Syrian people cannot be protected against destruction, enslavement and barbarity,” he added. He also said these terrorists plunge people into chaos and poverty, Tass reported.

The Russian President also pointed out that the Islamic State’s threat has gone beyond Iraq and Syria.

“Islamic State (IS) terrorists have already announced their plans to attack the holy cities of Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem,” he said. He pointed out that the jihadists also plan to spread their activities to Europe, Russia, central and southeastern Asia, Tass reported.

In addition, the situation in Afghanistan is degrading as the influence of the IS in that country has spread, he noted. “The scale of that organization’s activity has gone far beyond the bounds of Iraq and Syria,” Putin said. Taking a jab at the US- and NATO-comprised International Security Assistance Forces’ inaction against narcotic drugs production, he said: “You all know the way this threat is growing” in Afghanistan and Central Asia.