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| Events in Uzbekistan organized in Afghanistan - Russia |
| 2005-06-09 |
| Russia has credible information that the recent disturbances in the Uzbek town of Andizhan were organized from Afghan territory, said Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov. "Our information is quite reliable: everything that happened in Andizhan was inspired from Afghan territory," Ivanov said at a session of the Russian-NATO Council on Thursday. "A group of armed militants from Islamic organizations, including [Taliban members], had been planning a raid on Uzbekistan for a long time. So the questions the investigation has to answer are who organized the riots, how, and who assisted them," Ivanov said. "Ultimately, we are talking about stopping the threat of international terrorism in this strategically important region," he said. Ivanov noted that terrorist training continues in Afghanistan. "As we know, terrorists are being purposefully trained in Afghanistan for export," Ivanov said, adding that "the recent events in Uzbekistan are a clear confirmation of this." "In general, the situation in Afghanistan is still far from what we could call stable," Ivanov said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |