BISHKEK. Sept 28 (Interfax-AVN) - A possible influx of Afghan refugees remains the main security threat to Central Asia, deputy chief of the CIS anti-terrorist center Valery Verchagin now on a working visit in Bishkek has told Interfax.
He estimated the number of Afghan refugees who may enter the region at 15,000.
He did not rule out that terrorists and rebels may try to enter Central Asian countries together with refugees and in this connection the CIS countries parties to the anti-terrorist center are tightening passport and visa regulations.
For instance, visa and passport controls have been tightened in the Batken district, south Kyrgyzstan, on checkpoints on the border with Tashkent. Kyrgyz security services are keeping a close eye on the Osh-Khorog highway linking Gorno Badakhshan bordering on Afghanistan with south Kyrgyzstan.
Verchagin believes the influence of radical Islam on Central Asian countries will increase. The operations of extremist religious centers nowadays are not limited to the territory of Afghanistan.
Verchagin said that the present situation calls for stepping up efforts against terrorism, extremism and drug trafficking in that part of the world.