Two Tajik border guards and three suspected militants were killed in an armed clash near Tajikistan’s border with Afghanistan, the country’s State Committee for National Security said.
The incident occurred around 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 23, when a group described by Tajik authorities as “terrorists” refused orders to surrender and opened fire on border forces, the committee said in a statement carried by the state news agency Khovar.
All three attackers were killed during the operation, the statement said. Tajik officials said the situation along the border is now calm.
The Tajik border service also expressed hope that Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities would take additional measures to strengthen security along the shared frontier.
Separately, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has rejected media reports suggesting Tajikistan sought military assistance following armed incidents along the border. The Russia-led security bloc said it had received no such request from Dushanbe in connection with incidents reported on Nov. 26 and Nov. 30.
