Russia has issued a renewed warning over what it describes as a rapidly evolving terrorist landscape driven by instability in Afghanistan and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. Speaking at a BRICS+ counterterrorism forum in Moscow, Deputy Foreign Minister Dmitry Lyubinsky said extremist networks are adapting their tactics and exploiting new technologies to widen their reach.

Officials at the two-day meeting highlighted how groups linked to Islamic State and al-Qaeda are reorganising across borders and making increasing use of artificial intelligence, encrypted communications and cryptocurrencies to circulate propaganda, channel funds and maintain transnational operations, The Khaama Press News Agency wrote. The assessment aligns with wider international concerns that digital tools are accelerating the speed and scale of extremist activity.

Delegates warned that Afghanistan’s fractured security environment, coupled with unrest across the Middle East, continues to present risks beyond the immediate region. Russian security authorities have repeatedly argued that foreign fighters and affiliated groups are consolidating within Afghanistan under Taliban rule, although Taliban representatives reject the claims, the Khaama Press reports adds. UN monitoring has nonetheless identified several networks capable of regrouping.

The conference, aimed at developing coordinated responses among BRICS+ states, stressed the need for traditional security measures to be underpinned by more sophisticated digital oversight as recruitment and financing shift into virtual domains. Whether the bloc can convert shared threat assessments into meaningful joint action remains uncertain, but participants suggested momentum is building for deeper cooperation amid widening geopolitical rivalry and a more complex global security landscape.