'Terrorists from Afghanistan can infiltrate Russia via Kazakhstan border'

Terrorists from Afghanistan can infiltrate Central Asian states and from there move into Russia via the border with Kazakhstan, said Alexander Grebenkin, the deputy secretary of Russia's Security Council on Sunday.

Moscow has been carefully monitoring the situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban came to power, Sputnik reported citing Grebenkin interview with the government's Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper.

"There is a risk of infiltration into the Russian territory by members of international terrorist and extremist organizations, as well as [movement] of means of sabotage and terror. This is the result of the increase in the number of hotbeds of military and political instability near our borders," he said.

Grebenkin further noted that the situation is unlikely to improve given the political and economic crises in the region, and that Moscow expects a further increase in the scale of drug trafficking, arms smuggling and uncontrolled migration of refugees with members of terror groups hidden among them, Sputnik reported.

"Militants and terrorists from Afghanistan can infiltrate the states of the Central Asian region, and from there move into Russia through the Russian-Kazakh section of the state border," Grebenkin added.

This issue was on the agenda of the recent annual meeting of the secretaries of the security councils of the CIS member states, according to the official.

The Taliban entered Kabul on August 15, causing the US-backed government to step down. Later in September, the outfit announced the composition of the new interim government of Afghanistan.

The country is currently battered by the deepening economic, humanitarian, and security crisis following the Taliban takeover. The international community, from governments to non-governmental organizations, has been providing various assistance to the Afghan people.

( With inputs from ANI )