Dushanbe and provinces of Sughd and Khatlon have fulfilled their spring conscription targets ahead of schedule and Tajikistan has reached 99 percent of the spring conscription campaign target by May 23, Faridoun Mahmadaliyev, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, told Asia-Plus in an interview.
Meanwhile, the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) and districts subordinate to the center (RRPs) have reached 89 and 93 percent of their spring conscription targets respectively.
The spring conscription campaign is carried out from April 1 through May, and the draft affects able-bodied male citizens in the age bracket of 18 years old to 27 years old who are not members of the armed forces reserve.
According to the Ministry of Defense (MoD), every year, some 15,000-16,000 young Tajik men are drafted into the country’s armed forces. The two-month-long effort seeking to enlist young men aged 18-27 for the two-year compulsory military service takes place twice a year, in the spring and in the autumn.
Some sources say more than 600,000 young men in Tajikistan are eligible for military service, but some 150,000 of them have received draft deferments or are exempted from the military service and some 100,000 other conscript-age young Tajiks are outside the country in search of a living.
Young Tajiks can avoid or postpone military service if they are ill, studying at university, an only son, or if they have two children.
Tajikistan’s armed forces consist of Ground Forces, Mobile Forces (paratroopers of the armed forces of Tajikistan), Air Force and Air Defense Force.
Recall, Tajikistan ranks 112th out of a total of 127 countries worldwide in terms of military strength in the 2017 Global Firepower (GFP) list.
