The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) leaders have agreed on additional measures to enhance security in the light of the situation in Afghanistan, CSTO Secretary-General Stanislav Zas told an online news briefing on Monday, according to TASS.
“In today's discussion the need was stressed for taking extra measures to enhance the security of the CSTO member-states, in the first place, those in the Central Asian region, in the light of the situation [in Afghanistan] and its worsening,” Zas said after an extraordinary session of the CSTO Collective Security Council in connection with the current situation in Afghanistan.
"I would like to stress that this year we adjusted our activity in the CSTO somewhat in view of the aggravation of the situation in Afghanistan. Among other things measures were taken to scrutinize the situation along the Tajik-Afghan border and devise countermeasures in response to changes in it," Zas said.
CSTO secretary-general, in particular, noted that the Armed Forces of Tajikistan keep the situation along Tajikistan’s common border with Afghanistan under control and there is no need to attract additional forces there.
He stressed that the CSTO takes threats emanating from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan as seriously as possible, in connection with which they carefully monitor the situation in the Central Asian region.
“Within the next few months, a number of large-scale CSO military exercises, dubbed Poisk-2021, Eshlon-2021, Vzaimodeistviye-2021 and Kobalt-2021, will be conducted in Tajikistan new the Afghan border, and all of them will be conducted according to a single plan,” Zas noted.
He added that if the need arises, the CSTO will consider the issue of sending additional forces to the region.
Recall, a commentary of CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas was published in connection with a dramatic change of the situation in Afghanistan on August 16. “The rapid advance of the Taliban movement, its takeover of the main part of the territory of Afghanistan, including the state borders and the capital Kabul, as well as the actual change of power in the country have a great influence on the situation in the Central Asian region of the CSTO collective security and cause deep concern,” Stanislav Zas said. The CSTO has been carefully monitoring the development of the situation on the Tajik-Afghan border. The main goal of the organization in the current circumstances is to ensure the security of the CSTO member states. The priority in the organization's activities continues to be given to political and diplomatic means.
According to Stanislav Zas, in the case of aggravation of the situation and a threat to the security of the Republic of Tajikistan, all necessary collective measures stipulated by the statutory documents will be taken to help the ally. At the same time, it was stated that the Tajik security forces had full control of the situation on the border with Afghanistan, and there was no need to involve the CSTO mechanisms.
