Tajikistan and Afghanistan Beef Up Their Military Presence at the Border

Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says both countries are pulling in troops to their shared border, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Russia is keeping an eye on the situation at the Tajik-Afghan border and because tens of thousands of military personnel have gathered in Afghani province Takhar, the ministry is very concerned that things can get much worse, said Alexey Zaytsev from Russian MFA.

Russian officials have called Dushanbe and Kabul to cooperate in finding peaceful solutions to settle the situation.

Earlier in the week, the Taliban’s political chief Abdul Ghani Baradar blamed neighboring Tajikistan for intervening in internal Afghan affairs. He also said that any action might have consequences.

Another leader in the Taliban movement Imanulla Samanghani criticized Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon for the lack of democracy in his country. Because political parties that do not support the current regime aren’t allowed to take part in the elections, the president of that country has no right to teach Afghans, he said.

Rakhmon of Tajikistan demanded Afghanistan create an inclusive government for all ethnic groups including Tajiks. Officials in Dushanbe have stated that they won’t recognize the cabinet if it were created by force.