Expressing deep concerns over the increased influence of insurgent groups in Afghanistan, the central Asian countries have promised a serious fight against the militants including the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the region.

At the end of two-day Central Asian Cooperation Conference held in Kabul, the participants warned if the growing insurgency of militant groups including ISIS is not stopped, the central Asian people will likely join the group.

At the conference, which was aimed to discuss reinforcement of diplomatic, economic and cultural ties between Afghanistan and other central Asian countries, the participants decided to take solid steps in fighting insurgent groups in the region.

"Taliban and the IMU, they are the central Asian insurgents, you can also say they are the central Asian extremists, and now we have the most extremist group which is the ISIS. We need to concentrate more on this issue," said Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh, the acting head of Tajikistan's Institute for Political Studies.

Also present at the event, Afghanistan's former spy chief, Amarullah Saleh, expressed that Pakistan is still a safe haven for insurgent groups.

He warned of ISIS's influence in the central Asian countries, believing the group to be a serious threat to the security of the entire region.

"Today I write death to Taliban, I get 100,000 likes on my Facebook, I also get 10,000 dislikes on my Facebook. But the advent of social media and at least in the case of Afghanistan has helped the de-radicalization of the society to a large extent," Saleh said.

The U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Afghanistan, David Sedney, said at the meeting that the competition between Al-Qaeda and ISIS groups may cause further insecurity in the region.

He stressed the need for joint and sincere cooperation among regional countries to combat the insurgency.

Meanwhile, Dawood Muradian, head of Afghanistan Institute for Strategic Studies, said the purpose of the conference was to create an atmosphere for a genuine identification of Afghanistan.

"We want to remove the negative image of Afghanistan being shown to the world," Muradian said.

LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/3156

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