Tajikistan has asked the Taliban to issue a formal apology and step up security along the shared border after two Tajik border guards were killed in an armed clash this week, Tajik officials said.
The state news agency Khovar, citing Tajikistan’s State Committee for National Security, reported that the incident took place on Tuesday evening in the Shamsiddin Shohin district near the Afghanistan border.
Tajik authorities said three armed men, described as members of a “terrorist group”, crossed illegally into Tajikistan territory from Afghanistan. Border forces located the group the following morning, and a firefight broke out during an operation to intercept them, the committee said.
The three armed men were killed in the clash, and weapons and military equipment were recovered from the scene, according to the statement. Two Tajik border guards were also killed.
Some local media have suggested the incident may have involved a group of smugglers from Afghanistan, rather than militants.
Tajik officials said this was the third armed border incursion from Afghan territory in the past month and accused the Taliban of failing to ensure adequate security along the frontier. The Taliban have not commented publicly on the allegations.
The incident was reported as Tajikistan inaugurated several new border posts along its frontier with Afghanistan. Officials in Dushanbe said the situation along the border is currently calm, but investigations into the clash are continuing.
