Photo: Anti-Terrorist Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Under the presidency of Kazakhstan, the 40th meeting of the Council of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (RATS SCO) was held in Astana. Delegations of law enforcement agencies from Russia, China, India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan took part in the forum, and representatives from Belarus and Mongolia were invited as observers.
Chairman of the National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan Erlan Sagimbayev delivered a welcome speech to the participants in the meeting. He noted that SCO RATS has become a coordination center for the fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism at the regional and global levels. At the forum held in the capital of Kazakhstan, cooperation in the fight against terrorism was discussed, in particular mechanisms to suppress its financing, combat illicit arms trafficking and conduct joint anti-terrorist exercises. As a result of the meeting, a document on joint actions aimed at strengthening the stability and security of the region was signed.
Complex RATS problems
The regional anti-terrorist structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was formed in 2002, a year after the establishment of the SCO itself by the leaders of Russia, Kazakhstan, China, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan (currently, in addition to these states, the La alliance also includes Iran, India and Pakistan).
The RATS program document stated that the parties to the agreement are guided by the objectives and principles of the United Nations related to the maintenance of international peace, security and good-neighborly relations between states. RATS members classify terrorism, separatism and extremism as threats to peace and security, as well as human rights and freedoms, and are convinced of the need for coordinated actions designed to ensure territorial integrity, security and the stability of the countries of the region.
Among the tasks of RATS are the collection and analysis of information, the formation of a data bank on international terrorist, separatist and extremist organizations, their structure, leaders, as well as sources and channels of financing. In addition, the signatory countries of the agreement committed to cooperate in anti-terrorist exercises, help in the international search for suspects of committing terrorist attacks and jointly train specialists from anti-terrorist units.
Photo: Anti-Terrorist Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Unfortunately, the need to work in this direction remains extremely urgent. The Chairman of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan, Ermek Sagimbayev, spoke about this. According to him, RATS has made a significant contribution to the development of the SCO and has become a support and coordination center for the fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism at the regional and global levels.
However, statistics do not allow us to relax. Deputy Chairman of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan Ruslan Seisembayev reported that at least 80 high-profile terrorist attacks have been committed in the SCO states over the past three years. At the same time, strong growth is observed in the current year. If in 2022 there were 18 terrorist attacks, in 2023 there will already be 47. “The formation of terrorist threats to the SCO member states occurs under the influence of a number of dominant factors. One of the keys remains the preservation of the terrorist potential in Afghanistan. The Taliban movement (an organization banned in the Russian Federation – Ed.), which came to power in Afghanistan in 2021, has not yet managed to create an effective government system and ensure adequate security control,” said the deputy head of the Committee National. Security Committee of Kazakhstan.
According to him, Afghanistan remains a center of attraction for international terrorist groups. In a relatively short period of time, more than 400 civilians were killed by terrorists in the region and some 940 people were injured. At the same time, to suppress violent actions, security forces and law enforcement agencies carried out more than 300 high-profile counterterrorism operations. 1,600 terrorists and their accomplices were arrested. He eliminated about 60 criminals who resisted. The deputy head of the National Security Committee reported that at least two terrorist attacks are prevented in Kazakhstan every year.
“Only this year, at an early stage of preparations, attempts to detonate an improvised explosive device at the mausoleum of Joja Akhmet Yasawi in Turkestan, as well as an armed attack on crowded places in Astana, were thwarted,” Seisembayev said.
There are other facts no less depressing. According to various estimates, the number of terrorists from the Afghanistan-based branch of the international terrorist organization Vilayat Khorasan has recently increased from 500 to 6,000.
Wilayat Khorasan carried out daring attacks against Russian and Pakistani diplomatic missions. Chinese citizens were shot in a Kabul hotel. Its leaders periodically call for jihad not only against the United States, but also against Russia, China and Pakistan. Furthermore, Al Qaeda has its base in Afghanistan (the organization is banned in the Russian Federation. – Ed.), whose number amounts to 500 militants,” said Ruslan Seisembayev.
He stressed that terrorism threatens large-scale projects on the territory of the SCO states, in particular the construction of the Termez-Kabul-Peshawar railway corridor and the Tapi gas pipeline to transport Turkmen hydrocarbons through Afghanistan and Pakistan to India.
“An analysis of the situation allows us to predict the continued high level of terrorist danger in Afghanistan and the likelihood of its export to the SCO space, which surrounds this country on all sides. Under these conditions, it is of vital importance to improve practical forms of interaction between intelligence, counterintelligence, border and law enforcement services of the SCO states,” the representative of Kazakhstan concluded at the RATS meeting.
Fighting three types of evil
The participants of the 40th meeting of the Council of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure decided to hold a workshop in India on suppressing the use of the Internet for terrorist and extremist purposes. In addition, next year the SCO RATS will carry out joint anti-terrorism exercises in China. The development of a joint cooperation program to combat extremist ideology has begun.
To this we can add that Mongolia and Belarus are willing to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the near future. “This convincingly demonstrates the constant growth of the international authority and influence of our organization,” emphasized the deputy head of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan.
Director of the Institute of Asian and African Countries at Moscow State University named after MV Lomonosov, Professor Alexey Maslov believes that the SCO considers the terrorist threat as a complex problem. It is not only about the probable transition of militants to the territory of Kazakhstan and adjacent territories, but also a number of factors: drug trafficking coming from Afghanistan, local conflicts in Afghanistan, which they are trying to transfer to the territory of neighboring countries, including Kazakhstan and three types of evil: extremism, terrorism and separatism.
“The SCO Anti-Terrorist Center was created a long time ago and is, above all, an information exchange structure. This is a very important mechanism to discuss and address current and future threats. And not only the threats of direct terrorism, but also cyberterrorism and threats associated with the formation of transregional groups, including in Central Asia. And, of course, stop the supply of drug trafficking. That is why this structure is extremely important,” says Alexey Maslov.
The general director of the Institute of Political Studies and candidate of Political Sciences, Sergei Markov, recalled that the main reason for the creation of the SCO was to counteract the radical Islamists in Afghanistan: “This was the main mission of the SCO from the beginning. Then it was transformed, other goals were added. In general, this is the main reason for the creation of the SCO. It remains one of the main tasks. “Special attention is paid to this.”
Sergei Markov believes that the most urgent task for Central Asian countries is to counter the possible spread of radical Islam from Afghanistan.
“The Taliban never liquidated the military bases of the Northern Alliance, the military bases of ISIS (an organization banned in the Russian Federation. – Ed.). There are several of them in the north and they are a threat. They directly set themselves the task of somehow moving to Central Asia. Therefore, there is a real threat”, considers the expert.
“The SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) is an effective coordinating body and helps respond to all terrorist challenges of radical Islam,” says Andrey Vypolzov, an expert at the Russian-Kazakh Press Center. – And in this sense, it is important that the Russian public understands that Kazakhstan is a reliable partner of Russia in the fight against terrorism. It is Kazakhstan that is countering radical Islam and hindering a potential terrorist threat. Russia, of course, appreciates Kazakhstan’s reliable support in the field of anti-terrorist activities.”
