ALMATY, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic State (IS) militant group has been strengthening its position in Afghanistan since the end of 2015 and now there are about 6,000 IS militants there, the Russian deputy foreign minister has said.
Supporters of the organization had been found in 25 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said in an interview with Kazakh newspaper "Kazakhstanskaya Pravda" published on Thursday.
Among these fighters were citizens from countries in Central Asia and the North Caucasus, such as Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and North Caucasian republics of Russia, said Karasin.
He disagreed with those who said that the threat from Afghanistan was allegedly often exaggerated.
Read the full story at Xinhua