Russian minister claim on Daesh shifting from Pakistan a slip of tongue: FM

The Russian Foreign Ministry has clarified that Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Igor Zubov’s recent remarks about the alleged movement of Daesh militants from Pakistan to Tajikistan via helicopter was a slip of tongue. 

Russian Deputy Interior Minister Igor Zubov had said on Monday last that unidentified helicopters transported a large number of Daesh terrorists from Pakistan to the border with Tajikistan, close to Russia’s southern borders, Pakistan and Tajikistan are separated by Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor region.

Radio Pakistan reported that Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zhakharova dismissed Zubov’s remarks during a weekly press briefing said that they were a “slip of the tongue”. She said that Russia and Pakistan share common concerns regarding the growing momentum of Daesh militants and their expansion in the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border area.

Zhakharova said that Moscow is closely cooperating with Islamabad in the fight against terrorism and advancing the peace process in Afghanistan.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zhakharova