Iran said its army will need more funding to address the growing threat of Daesh (ISIS) on its borders, AFP reported Sunday, as the militant group expands into Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"We have to face a new threat in the region. Terrorist groups are close to our borders," General Ahmad-Reza Pourdastan told Iran's parliament, according to media reports.
The commander said the Iranian army and Revolutionary Guards are in need of more tanks, transport vehicles and refurbished helicopters. The country's defense budget for this fiscal year, ending in March 2016, had already been increased by about $10 billion. The army also received another $1.2 billion in sovereign funds, AFP reported.
Commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, Gen. John F. Campbell, said the extremists began recruiting in Afghanistan.
"There's recruiting going on in Afghanistan, there is recruiting going on in Pakistan. There is money being passed back and forth," Campbell told reporters on Saturday in Kabul.
Daesh claimed its first attack in Pakistan in May, when the group said it was responsible for an attack on a bus carrying the Shiite Muslim minority that killed 43 people.
