Four-day joint exercises for military intelligence servicemen of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan concluded in the Tajik southern Khatlon province last weekend.
The purpose of the exercises conducted at the Fakhrobod training ground of the Tajik Ministry of Defense was to rehearse cooperation in revealing and removing threats of terrorism, which are today the most relevant for Central Asia’s nations, an official source at a MoD told Asia-Plus in an interview.
According to him, Tajik and Uzbek military intelligence servicemen rehearsed coordination and interaction in combat missions against terrorist groups.
Recall, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan conducted the first joint military exercises, dubbed The Unbreakable Fraternity 2018, in September last year. On September 18, 2018, 600 Uzbek troops joined 17,000 Tajik soldiers and practiced anti-terrorism operations at the Chorukhdarron military training ground in the Tajik northern Sughd province. The troops involved in the exercise used not only light weaponry but unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), tanks, armored vehicles, helicopters and mortars, as well.
Some experts note that joint military exercises between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan underline growing regional awareness that the thirty-year Afghan civil war, fueled by a lethal mix of militancy and drug money, shows no sign of ending anytime soon, and growing belief that collective security initiatives are the best way to at least constrain the chaos to Afghanistan itself.
