Taliban Confirms Woman Killed in Tajikistan by Gunfire from Afghanistan

The Taliban administration has confirmed the death of a woman in Tajikistan after she was struck by a bullet fired from the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border, an incident that comes amid a series of recent security events along the frontier.

In a statement, the Taliban foreign ministry said the woman was hit and killed on the evening of August 13 in the village of Dashtak, in Darwaz district of Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region. Expressing regret, the administration offered condolences to the victim’s family and to the people of Tajikistan.

According to the Taliban foreign ministry, the shooting was carried out by “destructive and opportunistic individuals.” The ministry also claimed that some elements were trying to create disorder in parts of Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province in order to negatively affect regional security and the atmosphere of trust between the Taliban administration and Tajikistan.

The Taliban administration further said it is committed to maintaining security, stability, good neighbourliness and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries, and will not allow Afghan soil to be used to undermine security.

However, the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border has repeatedly seen security incidents in recent months. On December 5 and 9 last year, two armed attacks from Afghan territory targeted border areas in Tajikistan, killing a total of five Chinese nationals and injuring five others.

Also in January last year, three armed men entered Tajikistan’s Shamsiddin Shohin district from Afghan territory and, in clashes with the country’s border forces, all three attackers and two Tajik border officers were killed. In February 2025, another clash took place on the border between the two countries, in which, according to Tajik authorities, three armed smugglers were killed and some drugs and weapons were seized by border forces.

Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province in the northeast borders Tajikistan, and part of this frontier is mountainous and difficult to access. These areas have been considered sensitive in terms of security and smuggling in recent years.