Tajikistan plans to provide food aid to the people of Afghanistan through international organizations, Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin told reporters in Dushanbe on February 2.
He noted that relevant ministries and agencies of Tajikistan were working in that direction and deliveries of humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan would begin soon.
At the same time, the top Tajik diplomat emphasized that the position of Tajikistan towards the Taliban government remained unchanged.
“Today, international community also insists on “inclusive” government in Afghanistan and the Taliban should go in that direction. The Taliban must actually show respect for human rights and freedoms in Afghanistan,” Muhriddin added.
It is to be noted that unlike its Central Asian neighbors, plus Russia and China, Tajikistan isn’t rushing to establish ties with the Taliban government in Kabul.
At international meetings and forums, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has repeatedly said that Tajikistan will not recognize any other government formed in Afghanistan through oppression and persecution, without considering the position of the entire Afghan people, especially all of its ethnic minorities.
Speaking at an extraordinary online summit of the Collective Treaty Organization (CSTO), Emomali Rahmon said on January 10 that there are more than 6,000 militants in the north-east Afghanistan near the CSTO southern borders.
“In general, according to the intelligence services of Tajikistan, the number of camps and training centers for terrorists bordering the southern borders of the CSTO in the north-eastern provinces of Afghanistan totals over 40, and their numerical strength reaches more than 6,000 militants,” Rahmon noted.
Tajik leader further noted that he had repeatedly drawn attention to the presence of sleeper cells of international terrorism, extremism and religious radicalism in the CSTO member nations.
