Russian Foreign Minister cited unspecified intelligence reports saying that Islamic State emissaries have been sighted in northern Afghanistan close to the Russian border.

MOSCOW, December 25 (Sputnik) — Islamic State (IS) emissaries have been spotted in northern Afghanistan close to the Russian border, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said citing unspecified intelligence reports.

"It is necessary to eliminate their [IS militants'] domination on vast swathes of territory in Iraq, Syria, they have already made incursions in Libya," Lavrov said in an interview with Russia's Kommersant newspaper published on Thursday.

"There are reports that their [IS] emissaries have been sighted in northern Afghanistan, which means they are closing in on Central Asia and, therefore, on the Russian borders," Lavrov stressed.

IS, a radical Sunni group also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has ceased vast areas in Iraq and Syria, having proclaimed an Islamic caliphate on the territories under its control. The extremists have been performing public crucifixions and beheadings among other atrocities.

The United States is leading an anti-IS coalition that has been conducting airstrikes against IS jihadists in Iraq and Syria. The coalition comprises more than 60 countries, many members of which are taking part in the airstrikes.

Russia has expressed its unwillingness to join any coalitions that bypass the United Nations.