CSTO Members to Begin Sending Military Equipment to Tajikistan’s Border Regions

The Collective Security Treaty Organisation has announced that Russia, along with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Belarus, will begin sending military weapons and advanced military equipment to Tajikistan by the end of this year. The move is aimed at strengthening Tajikistan’s military and security capabilities along its shared border with Afghanistan and improving border control.

Talasbik Masadikov, the organisation’s secretary-general, said the programme will continue and that the military equipment will be delivered to Tajikistan by the autumn season. He also stressed that the move poses no threat to Afghanistan and is intended solely to improve regional security and ensure better border control.

The decision comes as Central Asian countries have repeatedly expressed concern about the security situation around their common borders with Afghanistan. The move may indicate the growing concern of these countries over the consequences of an unstable Afghanistan after the Taliban took power.