Russia continues military deliveries to bolster Tajikistan-Afghanistan border
Russia’s Foreign Ministry says Moscow is monitoring security developments along the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border and will continue sending weapons and technical equipment to strengthen protection of the frontier. Alexander Sternik, head of the ministry’s Third Department for the Commonwealth of Independent States, said the security of this border has always been a focus for Russia.
Speaking to RIA Novosti, in remarks published on Monday, 13 Mizan, Sternik said Russia’s assistance is being provided under a five-year Collective Security Treaty Organization plan to strengthen Tajikistan’s border with Afghanistan and a modernization programme for Tajikistan’s armed forces through 2042. He said the intergovernmental plan was approved on 28 November 2024.
In recent months, armed clashes in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province, along the Tajik border, have increased. The presence of armed groups and the activity of Islamic State Khorasan in Afghanistan have also been cited as security concerns for Central Asian countries.
Talatbek Masadykov, the CSTO secretary-general, had earlier voiced concern about the border situation and said the first shipments of weapons and equipment to reinforce it would arrive in Dushanbe in the autumn, with Russia playing the main role in supplying them. He did not directly link the delivery of the equipment to the recent clashes in Badakhshan, saying security problems in the region could also affect other members of the organization.
Russia’s defence minister had also previously said the country’s military bases in Tajikistan were on full alert to counter possible threats.
