DUSHANBE, October 16, 2015, Asia-Plus –
Reuters
reports that Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said yesterday that Russia could re-establish security operations to guard the Tajik-Afghan border.
“I don”t rule it out… We have a (military) base there as you know,” Borisov told
Reuters
when asked if Russia could provide Tajikistan with military support to secure its border with Afghanistan.
“Our political leaders will discuss and decide. Everything is possible,” Borisov said.
We will recall that during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Putin in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon said on October 6 that Tajikistan is “extremely concerned” about the situation along the Tajik-Afghan border. Rahmon reportedly said the situation in Afghanistan was “getting worse by the day.” “Practically, fighting is going on along more than 60 percent of the Tajik border with Afghanistan,” he added.
Afghan news agency
Khaama Press
on September 14 cited an article from the Russian newspaper
Kommersant
as saying that a source close to the secretary general of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) said the deployment of Russian forces to the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border is not unlikely.
“The Russian forces may return once they receive a request from the government of Tajikistan,”
Khaama Press
said.
According to the CSTO source, Tajikistan has only requested technical assistance so far.
“Russia is mulling the deployment of forces on Tajikistan’s border with Afghanistan amid fears that the security situation of Central Asia could deteriorate, specifically Tajikistan’s security,”
Khaama Press
reported, adding that Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed concerns regarding threats posed to Tajikistan from the South due to deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan amid presence of terrorist groups and emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) loyalists.
Russian border guards used to patrol Tajikistan”s sensitive border with Afghanistan, pulling out in 2005 by agreement with the local government.
A total length of Tajikistan’s common border with Afghanistan is more than 1,400 kilometers. In May this year, Tajikistan created the second line of defense along its common border with Afghanistan following aggravation of the situation in the border areas of the neighboring country.
