OREANDA-NEWS. The situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate, the Islamic State group, banned in Russia, is strengthening in the country, said Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council.

"The main efforts of the Ishilovites are to consolidate their presence in northern Afghanistan, where over two thousand militants are already concentrated, to counter the Taliban (militants of the radical Taliban movement banned in the Russian Federation) and prepare a bridgehead for invading the Central Asian region through Tajikistan and Turkmenistan", said Patrushev at a multilateral meeting on Wednesday in Tehran of secretaries of security councils and national security advisers on Afghan issues.

He stated that the ultimate goal of the militants is the creation of the so-called Great Khorasan, including the territories of Afghanistan and the countries of Central Asia. "According to available information, the priority objectives of the Ishilovites may be objects of critical infrastructure, law enforcement agencies and diplomatic missions, as well as foreign citizens", said the Secretary of the Russian Security Council.