KABUL – Russia has once again seeked answers from the United States and theWestern powers operating in Afghanistan about the origin and nature of theunmarked flights operating in Afghanistan and helping the Daesh terrorists.
Moscow has not received any information from Western partners on the originof helicopters that could be involved in transporting terrorists toAfghanistan, Russia’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Alexander Mantytsky toldTASS news agency on Monday.
“Unfortunately, neither official Kabul nor our Western partners have beenable to give any accurate and credible information on the origin and thegoals of unidentified helicopters flying over the territory of the IRA [theIslamic Republic of Afghanistan] and possibly involved in transportingterrorists of the IS [Daesh] and the equipment they need,” the Russianambassador said.
TASS reported that the Russian diplomat stressed Russia has repeatedlyraised the issue – also with UNAMA.
“We expect that the joint work with those countries that are sincerelyinterested in establishing peace and stability in the IRA will make itpossible to expose those who are rendering support to terrorists,”Mantytsky said.
“Such facts have to be exposed and cut short,” he said.
TASS also reported Mantytsky as saying that broader powers for US forces inAfghanistan should not violate the country’s sovereignty and the region’sinterests.
He said after a dramatic surge in insurgent activity in the region, “animpression is being created that the use-of-force pressure by the US inAfghanistan has not met the expectations that had been pinned on it.”
“We expect that the broader powers for the US forces in Afghanistan willnot violate the sovereignty of that country and will not infringe on theinterests of the countries in the region,” he pointed out.
The Russian envoy reconfirmed Moscow’s readiness to “render Kabulassistance in training and equipping national security and defensestructures as the basic guarantor of security in Afghanistan andparticipating in the promotion of the national reconciliation process.”
“We confirm our openness to cooperation in these areas both with the UnitedStates and other interested partners,” he added.
TASS reported that the Russian ambassador expressed concern over”predominantly military nature of the US strategy for Afghanistan and SouthAsia.”
“It is also regrettable that it fails to reflect properly the dangeremanating from the Afghan wing of the Islamic State terrorist organization[Daesh], and the problem of Afghan narcotic drug production is fullyignored,” Mantytsky stressed.
He said the growing anti-Russian rhetoric in Afghanistan is aimed atdistracting global attention from mistakes on the part of the US and NATOin this region.
“Unfortunately, we are seeing a growing propaganda activity in Afghanistandirected against Russia and its policy in the region,” he said.
Mantytsky said rejected all claims of Russia supporting the Taliban andsaid “a staged campaign to discredit our country” is behind these “absurdfabrications.”
“This is being done not just to shift responsibility, but to distractattention from multiple mistakes made by the US and the NATO members inmore than 16 years of their military presence in Afghanistan,” Mantytskiyadded.