Alexander Bortnikov, the Director of Russia`s Federal Security Service (FSB), has warned that the transfer of foreign terrorist fighters into Afghanistan has intensified, with the goal of recruiting them into ISIS, and that the group is being strengthened through support from foreign private military companies.

According to AnsarPress, Bortnikov made the remarks during a security conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where he said that ISIS recruitment activities in Afghanistan have increased, and that the group is receiving funding, equipment, and manpower from certain foreign private military contractors.

Bortnikov stated that the leadership of ISIS seeks to destabilize the Central Asian region and to expand its operational reach across the borders of neighboring states.

He added that ISIS has launched aggressive online propaganda campaigns in Tajik, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, and Kazakh languages, and is expanding its network of militant training camps within and around Afghanistan.

The Russian security chief emphasized that the strengthening of ISIS-Khorasan serves the interests of foreign actors, while simultaneously undermining the Taliban`s authority and creating a long-term hub of terrorist threats along the southern borders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Bortnikov also underscored the importance of deeper cooperation with Taliban intelligence services to combat both terrorist threats and drug trafficking originating in Afghanistan.

He noted that drug traffickers have shifted their focus toward the production and cross-border smuggling of synthetic and psychotropic substances, using new trafficking methods to bypass existing controls.

Earlier, Sergey Shoigu, the Secretary of Russia`s Security Council, had reported that more than 23,000 fighters from international terrorist organizations are currently operating inside Afghanistan, warning that the country remains a key epicenter of transnational militant activity.