OMM Newsroom
Following armed incidents along its border with Afghanistan, Tajikistan has called on its regional allies to provide greater support for border security. Dushanbe says it has built more than 80 new border posts but needs additional assistance to protect the country’s southern border.
Nasrullo Mahmadzoda, chairman of the Tajik parliament’s Committee on Law Enforcement, Defense and Security, made the appeal at a conference in Moscow marking the 20th anniversary of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). He said instability in Afghanistan was a concern for the region, particularly Tajikistan, which shares an approximately 1,400-kilometre border with the country, AnewZ reports.
Much of the border runs through remote mountainous areas, making surveillance and a rapid response to security threats difficult.
In November 2025, five Chinese nationals working in Tajikistan’s border areas were killed in two attacks launched from Afghan territory. The following month, two Tajik border guards were killed in a clash with an armed group attempting to cross into the country.
According to Tajikistan’s Drug Control Agency, seven armed clashes with drug traffickers from Afghanistan were recorded in the first half of 2026. More than 1.5 tonnes of drugs were seized during that period.
Clashes in northern Afghanistan also raise concern
According to conflict-monitoring organisation ACLED, clashes continue between Taliban forces and local armed groups in Afghanistan’s northern provinces. The presence of extremist groups, including the Afghan branch of the Islamic State, is also raising concerns that violence could spread beyond the country’s borders.
The Taliban authorities say they control the situation and will not allow Afghan territory to be used to threaten neighbouring countries. For Tajikistan, however, armed border incursions and drug trafficking remain pressing problems.
Mahmadzoda said more than 80 new border posts equipped with modern technology and necessary facilities had been built over the past two to three years. He said investment needed to continue to secure the long and challenging border.
Tajikistan expects its CSTO partners to fulfil their commitments under a joint border security programme approved at the organisation’s summit in Astana in November 2024, during Kazakhstan’s chairmanship. The programme, which runs from 2025 to 2030, provides for military equipment, improvements to border infrastructure, technical upgrades and personnel training.
The programme does not require other CSTO members to deploy troops along the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border. Assistance is intended to strengthen Tajikistan’s own border forces through coordinated support.
In October, CSTO Secretary-General Taalatbek Masadikov said weapons and military equipment from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Belarus were expected to be delivered by the end of 2026. Tajikistan has selected suppliers and agreed on the value of the orders, but the types and quantities of equipment have not been disclosed. Dushanbe is urging its allies to meet their commitments according to the agreed schedule.
