Tajikistan starts joint antiterror drills with China near Afghan border
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 21 October 2016 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Tajikistan starts joint antiterror drills with China near Afghan border, 21 October 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5975a13a13.html [accessed 5 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
October 21, 2016
Tajikistan is beginning joint antiterror military drills with China on the Afghan border.
Tajikistan began joint antiterror drills with China on October 20 near the border with Afghanistan as part of Beijing's drive to boost security in the region.
Tajikistan's Defense Ministry said the exercises would last until October 24 and involve at least 10,000 troops as well as military vehicles and helicopters.
Tajik authorities said last month that China would be building infrastructure to increase security on the 1,300-kilometer border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan, which is a haven for drug traffickers.
China and Tajikistan entered into an antiterror alliance with Pakistan and Afghanistan earlier this year.
Security issues in former Soviet Central Asia, a region that borders China's restive Xinjiang province, were once the exclusive preserve of Russia.
But China has dramatically increased its presence in the region and a suicide attack against the Chinese Embassy in Kyrgyzstan in August highlighted Beijing's security concerns.
Kyrgyz authorities blamed the attack, which injured three people and resulted in the attacker's death, on radicals from the Uyghur community, a mostly Muslim minority from Xinjiang.
The U.S. security footprint in the region has shrunk since Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan ended agreements for bases used in U.S. operations in Afghanistan.
Based on reporting by AFP and RFE/RL's Tajik Service
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
