Kazakh ambassador to Afghanistan Omertay Bitimov Friday said that central Asian countries are seriously concerned about what he termed the increase in Daesh and Taliban activity in Afghanistan - particularly in the country's northern regions.

He said insurgents, by gaining footholds in Afghanistan, are attempting to infiltrate central Asian countries in order to destabilize the region.

With the rise in activities by Daesh and other militant groups in Afghanistan's northern regions, countries such as Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan - that border Afghanistan - have stepped up their border security to retaliate against possible threats.

"Of course we are strongly concerned about the security in Afghanistan, we all know that these terrorists are using all sources to pose threats against central Asia; our president has a clear policy toward helping Afghanistan," said Omertay Bitimov.
He said that regional cooperation for Afghanistan was key to eliminating terrorists in Afghanistan.

"We contribute $2 million USD annually to help the Afghan police and some Afghan police recruits graduated from our police academy and we are determined to increase our aid to Afghanistan," he said.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has announced that western countries, particularly the U.S, are determined to move forward with their counter-terrorism mission in Afghanistan.

"The secretary wrapped up his trip with a visit to Afghanistan where he met with our commanders including General Nicholson; he also met with Afghan President (Ashraf) Ghani, Chief Executive (Abdullah) Abdullah as well as minister of defense and minister of interior during that visit.

These meetings were focused on improving performance of the Afghan national defense and security forces and implementation of President (Barack) Obama's decisions to adjust our troop level in Afghanistan next year and authorities that these troops are using, the secretary ended that stop by talking with the U.S troops about the road ahead in Afghanistan and the important mission they are carrying out on behalf of the American people," Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said.

The Pentagon's announcement comes just a few weeks after Obama authorized new powers to U.S forces in Afghanistan in their campaign against the militants - besides extended the presence of 8,400 U.S troops in the country through the end of his term.

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