Tajikistan Asks CSTO for Help

Permanent Representative of the Republic of Tajikistan to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Khasan Sultonov has said that his country waits for assistance to protect its border with Afghanistan.

According to the Tajik official, about 1,500 Afghan government soldiers crossed the state border with Tajikistan because of combat with Taliban (the movement is prohibited in Kazakhstan) militants. He has recalled the 2013 agreement on assistance in strengthening the Tajik-Afghan border.

«We would like to call CSTO member states to participate in full realization of the document,» he said. 

He noted that within the organization, Tajikistan is the country with the longest state border with Afghanistan. That’s why Dushanbe does everything needed to keep the situation under control and counter threats that come out of that country.

«Given that the situation in the region is getting worse, as well as the fact that many border parts lie across remote mountain areas, it’s a hard task to protect the border when you are alone,» Sultonov highlighted.

The instability in the region has surged as the U.S. government announced its plans to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan before September 11. In 2020 Washington and the Taliban signed a peace agreement in Doha, Qatar. To meet its requirements, all foreign troops have to leave the country to allow Afghanis to start an internal dialog.

However, many Afghanis are currently trying to get out of the country fearing retaliation by the Taliban. In turn, the U.S. has asked Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to let 9,000 Afghani refugees, primarily those who cooperated with the American army during the last 20 years and now might become a target for Taliban forces, to get in. Tajikistan has already given asylum to about 1,000 Afghan refugees who have settled in the Gorno-Badakhshan region.