Kabul Appreciates Russian Support of Peace Process in Afghanistan

Fazal Hadi Muslimyar, the speaker of the upper house of Afghan parliament, said that Afghanistan is threatened not only by the Islamic State (ISIL) jihadist group but also extremists from other terrorist organizations.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Kabul appreciates Russian support for its peace-building process and for the Afghan government's fight against terrorism, Fazal Hadi Muslimyar, the speaker of the upper house of Afghan parliament, said Tuesday.

"All the events that have occurred over the past 13-14 years in Afghanistan and other countries in the region have shown that terrorism is an international threat. The people of Afghanistan are among its victims," he said at a meeting with the speaker of the upper house of Russia's parliament, Valentina Matvienko in Moscow.

Muslimyar added that Afghanistan is threatened not only by the Islamic State (ISIL) jihadist group but also extremists from other terrorist organizations.

"The Afghan people are going to wage a resolute struggle till their [all extremist groups] total elimination. We would like to thank you for saying that a peaceful and stable Afghanistan is one of the priorities of Russian foreign policy. We very much appreciate this support," Muslimyar acknowledged.

Afghanistan continues to be in political and social turmoil as both the Taliban and other extremist organizations, such as IS, take advantage of persistent national instability, despite billions of dollars in assistance received following a 2001 US-led invasion.

The US-led NATO mission formally ended its International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) combat operations in Afghanistan on December 31, 2014, transitioning to a non-combat mission in the country.