Post-Soviet security bloc to take measures if situation on Tajik-Afghan border escalates

MOSCOW, August 16. /TASS/. The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is closely following the developments in Afghanistan and will take all necessary collective measures, if the situation escalates and there is a security threat to Tajikistan, CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas said on Monday. "The organization continues to attach priority in its activity to political and diplomatic methods. If the situation escalates and a threat emerges to the security of the Republic of Tajikistan, all the necessary collective measures stipulated by the statutory documents will be taken to render assistance to the ally," he said. The CSTO chief held phone talks with Tajikistan’s Defense Minister Sherali Mirzo and Secretary of the country’s Security Council Nassrullo Makhmudzoda on Monday. "Currently, the Tajik security forces are fully controlling the situation on the border and there is no need to engage the CSTO mechanisms," Zas said. The fighters of the Taliban radical militant group (outlawed in Russia) entered Kabul without encountering any resistance on Sunday and started to take control of government buildings abandoned by Afghan troops, the Al Arabiya TV Channel reported. President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani left the country. The Taliban later announced that it had established control of all the districts in the Afghan capital. Read more