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Russian military base to help Tajikistan respond to threats, defense chief vows

"Maintaining stability and calm in the region where one of the CSTO’s Central Asian members is located is what the 201st base is there for," the Russian defense minister noted

DUSHANBE, July 28. /TASS/. Russia’s 201st Military Base will provide military assistance to Tajikistan if the country faces threats due to the developments in Afghanistan, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told reporters on Wednesday.

"We are certainly not ignoring the developments on the border and the attempts by militants to enter Tajikistan. This is why I can say for sure that if an ally of ours, that is, a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, faces any threat, Russia will react to that, particularly by engaging the 201st base located in Tajikistan," he pointed out.

"Maintaining stability and calm in the region where one of the CSTO’s Central Asian members is located is what the 201st base is there for," the Russian defense minister noted.

According to him, the Russian military is keeping tabs on militants from the Islamic State terror group (IS, outlawed in Russia) moving into Afghanistan from other countries, namely Syria and Libya. "We do hope that some consensus and national reconciliation will be achieved in Afghanistan. However, we see IS units actively entering there from various regions, including Syria and Libya. Notably, we can see that their movement is organized quite well," Shoigu added.

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