Russia reinforces bases in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan to fight Afghan militants - Shoigu

ASTANA, June 7. /TASS/. Russia is reinforcing its military bases in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan with state-of-the-art weapons to stonewall shifting terrorist activity from Afghanistan to Central Asia, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Wednesday. "Russia’s Defense Ministry is taking measures to obstruct a shift of terrorist activity from Afghanistan to the Central Asian region. To this aim, we are increasing combat readiness of Russian military bases in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, equipping them with modern weapons and military equipment," Shoigu told a meeting of defense ministers from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s member-states in Kazakhstan. In March this year, anti-terrorist command and staff drills were held in Tajikistan involving the republic’s forces, Shoigu said. "In September, similar exercises involving national military contingents of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member-states are due to be held," he said. Shoigu also noted that the joint Dushanbe-Anti-Terror 2017 drills were also conducted. "In close proximity to the Tajik-Afghan border the troops trained to carry out fire attacks and destroy armed groups, conduct air intelligence and step up protection of crucial facilities," he said. The exercise, wrapped up in Tajikistan this weekend, had been coordinated by the CIS Anti-Terrorism Center. Russia was represented by about 2,000 servicemen with more than 300 pieces of military hardware, including 30 planes and helicopters. Read more