DUSHANBE, October 16, 2015, Asia-Plus —
Reuters
reports the leaders of the CSI member nations responded to growing instability in Afghanistan on October 16 by agreeing to create a joint task force to defend their bloc”s external borders if a crisis arises.
They reportedly agreed on the creation of what is described in a summit document as a “grouping of border (forces) and other institutions from CIS member states designed to resolve crisis situations on the external borders.”
There were no details on the composition of the force or on where it would be deployed.
But Sergei Lebedev, the CIS executive secretary, mentioned Tajikistan, which has a border with Afghanistan, as the possible location for the deployment of joint forces,
Reuters
says.
“Apart from Russia, there are collective forces aimed at supporting Tajikistan against those threats from the south,” Lebedev told reporters. “Whether or not Russia is going to return there (to patrol the border) is a matter that will be resolved through bilateral agreements.”
The move could mean that Russian troops, as part of collective forces, will be deployed to Afghanistan”s borders as the U.S.-led coalition gradually withdraws from the country, leaving behind a power vacuum.
Russian border troops were responsible for security on the Tajik-Afghan border until 2005, when an agreement with the Tajik government lapsed and they pulled out.
Tajikistan has the longest border with Afghanistan among the Central Asian nations. 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 deterioration of the situation in the border areas of the neighboring country.
