ISIS has amassed 5,000 fighters close to border

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: A top Russian security official has claimed that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group’s offshoot in Afghanistan has amassed at least 5,000 fighters close to CIS border in North of Afghanistan.

The director of Russia’s FSB Alexander Bortnikov made the remarks during a meeting with the ex-Soviet intelligence services in Dushanbe, according to Russia’s RT Television network.

“Especially worrying is re-deployment of terrorist groups into northern provinces of Afghanistan,” Bortnikov said.

He warned that ‘Wilayat Khorasan’, a local Islamic State affiliate, had managed to gather 5,000 fighters in the area.

A US official had earlier told AFP that Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorists are heading to Afghanistan to continue their jihad and plot ‘spectacular’ attacks against the United States.

“We know some have already made their way back here and are trying to transfer the knowledge, skills and experience they learned over there,” the official speaking on the condition of anonymity told AFP late in April.

The official further added that “If we don’t continue counterterrorism pressure against (IS in Afghanistan), there will be an attack in our homeland — and a spectacular attack — probably within the year.”(Khaama Press)