MOSCOW, May 27. /TASS/. Russia is concerned about the mass deployment of international terrorists into Africa from other conflict zones, Tatyana Dovgalenko, Director of the Department for Partnership with Africa at the Russian Foreign Ministry, said at a briefing on the sidelines of the International Security Forum.
"International terrorism remains one of the foremost threats to peace and security on the African continent. We are concerned about the mass relocation of foreign terrorists and militants into the region from other conflict zones. It is important not to allow them to entrench themselves and establish a new Caliphate 2.0 here," she noted.
According to the senior Russian diplomat, countries that are friendly to Russia and Sahel Confederation states lie in the epicenter of the terrorist threat. "Terror groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda (outlawed in Russia as a terrorist organization - TASS), and ISIS (formerly known as the terrorist organization Islamic State, outlawed in Russia -- TASS) are operating on their soil," she noted. "This underlines the importance of pooling efforts by regional forces in the fight against the common terrorist threat," Dovgalenko added.
Moscow welcomes efforts toward establishing practical dialogue between ECOWAS and the Sahel Confederation, she continued. Also, Moscow views Sahel Confederation states as the driving force of the fight against regional terrorism as it "attaches special importance to improving the combat capability of their national armies as well as strengthening the potential of the Confederation’s combined force," the diplomat concluded.
