KABUL - Russia has recorded flights of unidentified helicopters delivering weapons to the Taliban and Daesh militants in Afghanistan, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Thursday.
“We again draw attention to flights by “unidentified” helicopters in northern Afghanistan to deliver arms and ammunition to local ISIS (Daesh) militants and the Taliban cooperating with this terrorist group. Specifically, Afghan media and local residents claim that these flights have been recorded in the Sar-e-Pul Province," the Russian diplomat said, TOLO News has reported.
“We note that this is happening in the direct vicinity of Central Asian states’ borders and many ISIS (Daesh) militants in Afghanistan hail from these countries. There is no reaction to these events either from Afghan security, defense and law-enforcement agencies or the command of the US/NATO contingent deployed there.
The Russian diplomat said they want to know who is behind these flights.
“It is legitimate to ask, who is behind these flights? Who is arming the terrorists and secretly creating their bases near the southern borders of the CIS? Why is this happening if NATO command is effectively in control of Afghanistan’s airspace?” she asked.
Russia has made these claims many times. In February, Russia’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Alexander Mantytsky, quoted by TASS news agency, said Moscow has not received any information from Western partners on the origin of helicopters that could be involved in transporting terrorists to Afghanistan.
"Unfortunately, neither official Kabul nor our Western partners have been able to give any accurate and credible information on the origin and the goals of unidentified helicopters flying over the territory of the IRA (the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan) and possibly involved in transporting terrorists of the IS [Daesh] and the equipment they need," the Russian ambassador said in February.