DUSHANBE November 4, 2015, Asia-Plus – Russian media outlets report that speaking at the third meeting of the ASEAN countries’ defense chiefs and their dialogue partners in Kuala Lumpur, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov revealed on November 4 that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has employed up to 30,000 foreign extremists.

He noted that Russia’s Air Forces were striking only confirmed terrorist targets, such as Islamic State militants and were not after the so-called ‘moderate’ Syrian rebels.

“The aviation and other [combat] means are deployed exclusively against the terrorist formations on the territory of Syria.  There are no strikes being conducted at any other targets, connected to, for example, the forces of the so-called ‘moderate’ opposition,” Russia’s deputy defense minister said.

Antonov stressed that Moscow has been making efforts to step up “practical cooperation” with regional and international actors in connection with the Syrian op.

Since the beginning of the operation that was initiated at President Bashar Assad’s request, Russian air forces have carried out more than 1,600 sorties, killing several hundred terrorists and destroying more than 2,000 objects of infrastructure held by the terrorists.  Having suffered substantial losses, ISIL militants have been withdrawing from the line of contact with the Syrian armed forces.

However, Antonov also drew the attention of his international counterparts to the bigger picture involved in IS’s terrorist activities.

“Today some 25-30 thousand foreign terrorist mercenaries are fighting for ISIL, including those from the Pacific Rim countries and, unfortunately, Russia too.  Should they return home, carrying the potential for violence and extremism, they will be preaching radical ideas in our countries or will organize subversive activities,” Antonov said.

Russia’s operation in Syria is fully legitimate and in line with international law because it is being carried out at the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Antonov said.

“This operation is limited to the offensive conducted by the regular Syrian Army against the terrorists,” the Russian deputy defense minister said.

Russia is particularly concerned with the growing influence of ISIL in northern Afghanistan, near the borders of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, as well as in Pakistan.  ISIL militants have already settled in 25 Afghan provinces out of 34, Antonov said.

ISIL’s emissaries in Pakistan are making attempts to establish contacts with other terrorist groups, trying to recruit them to its cause, he said.

Defense ministers from the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and regional partners including the United States, China and Russia met in Kuala Lumpur Wednesday morning for an annual dialogue first launched in 2013.