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CSTO to help Tajikistan to strengthen border with Afghanistan until yearend

In twelve months the number of military clashes has doubled and attempts of militant forces’ penetration into Tajikistan become more often

MOSCOW, November 19. /ITAR-TASS/. Member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation will help Tajikistan to strengthen border with Afghanistan until the end of the year, CSTO Secretary-General Nikolai Bordyuzha said on Tuesday.

“Recently a group of CSTO representatives monitored the Tajik-Afghan border,” he said. “According to our estimates, the situation is aggravating. In twelve months the number of military clashes has doubled and attempts of militant forces’ penetration into Tajikistan become more often.”

The CSTO at its meeting on September 23 decided to provide urgent assistance to Tajik border guards, Bordyuzha said, adding that for three months Tajikistan would get logistics support and buildup of its forces. Moreover, in the long term an interstate programme to create infrastructure of the Tajik-Afghan border will be developed.

“We do not expect large-scale military clashes on the Tajik-Afghan border after the withdrawal of the international coalition from Afghanistan in 2014, but there is a huge number of factors that create tensions in the region,” Bordyuzha said. “For instance, militants from the CIS member-states undergo training on the territory of Afghanistan. Such factors should also be taken into account.

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