Dushanbe worried over concentration of militants at border with Afghanistan

DUSHANBE, June 1. /TASS/. Tajikistan is watching with concern the movement of armed groups uncontrolled by Kabul towards its border and is worried over the concentration of militants at the Badakhshan and Kunduguz border sections, an officer of the Tajik State Committee for National Security told TASS on Monday. "According to our information, these groups are not planning to violate the Tajik-Afghan border but the very presence of a great number of well-armed groups uncontrolled by the Afghan government cannot but cause concern," he said. "The situation may change any minute, so the Tajik authorities have taken a number of preventive measures to strengthen the border using reserves of the border troops and army units." "Naturally, an extra and considerable security factor in the region and in the republic is the presence of Russia’s 201st military base as a key component of the collective rapid reaction force of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)," the officer said, adding that the force’s recent drills at the border with Afghanistan had proved that any foreign threat would be repelled. Touching on the threat of spreading Islamic State ideas in Tajikistan, he said that the country’s security services had exposed recruiting centres and routes used by militants to reach Syria. "We know the manes of 417 citizens of Tajikistan fighting for the Islamic State. Criminal cases have been opened against each of them on charges of mercenary activities. However, Tajikistan prosecutor general’s office has promised that those who "repent sincerely" and return home would not be criminally prosecuted. Five persons did that in May. Read more