A refugee family prepares tea outside the Afghan Emergency Department in Herat. Archival photoMINSK, January 23CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas said that with the deepening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, there is a risk of increased activity of gangs and illegal arms trafficking. «The situation is very difficult, difficult even after the withdrawal of US troops and allies from Afghanistan. There remains a terrorist threat from this territory and the threat of drug trafficking. Therefore, we are doing some work to strengthen our southern borders, primarily the border of Tajikistan with Afghanistan. Of course, a lot will depend on how successful the actions in Afghanistan will be to overcome the humanitarian crisis that is now unfolding there,» Zas said in an interview with the ONT television channel shown on Sunday. He noted that «as of yesterday, about 9 million people, according to UN estimates, are starving there, almost half of the population is malnourished.» «Of course, such a situation, if aggravated, will inevitably lead to an increase in the activity of all kinds of gangs, terrorist groups in this territory, to an increase in the arms trade, in the arsenal that remains there, and to drug trafficking,» the organization's Secretary General continued. He noted, that «the CSTO is not a humanitarian organization.» «But at the same time, our countries are providing support on a bilateral basis in overcoming this humanitarian crisis,» Zas added. million in cash as humanitarian aid
