16:53, 31 August, 2021

YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS. The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) adheres to a defensive policy and doesn’t plan to deploy its troops to Afghanistan, CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas said on Tuesday, reports TASS.

“These fears are absolutely ungrounded. The CSTO is a purely defensive military-political organization. It can deploy defensive forces only within the zone of its responsibility”, he said in an interview with the Mir 24 television channel when asked whether the organization plans to deploy troops to Afghanistan.

After the Biden administration announced the end of its US military operation in Afghanistan and the launch of its troop pullout, the Taliban embarked on an offensive against Afghan government forces. On August 15, Taliban fighters swept into Kabul without encountering any resistance, and gained full control over the Afghan capital within a few hours. Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani said he had stepped down to prevent any bloodshed and subsequently fled the country.