According to The Moscow Times, Russia and Tajikistan have started conducting large-scale military exercises on the Tajik-Afghan border to guard against growing fears of “an invasion by Islamist extremists into Central Asia.”
The military collaboration comes amidst growing tensions in the volatile Afghan-Tajik border zone. Earlier this month, Tajikistani border security forces engaged in a standoff with a heavily armed group of nine men trying to make their way into the country from Afghanistan. The skirmish left two dead, one wounded, and several taken into Tajikistani custody. While confirmation has yet not been received as to the identities and motives of the individuals involved, many speculate that the men were affiliated with the Afghan-based terrorist group, the Taliban, and were trying to infiltrate Tajikistan through the border.
“Joint groups of paratroop forces from Tajikistan and Russia are being airlifted to possible points of incursions by terrorist groups on the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border,” announced Faridun Makhmadalizoda, a spokesman for Tajikistan’s Ministry of Defense on March 16th.
A Tajikistani news agency citing the Russian Ministry of Defence further elaborated: “Personnel of the Russian and Tajik armies will practice cohesion, common approaches for neutralizing illegal armed formations, destroying bases, depots and other facilities of a simulated enemy. During the drills, the army aviation will provide reconnaissance and cover for the routes of military hardware convoys, support motor rifle units and special forces, airdrop a tactical paratrooper task force in hard-to-access mountainous terrain and practice the evacuation of wounded personnel.”
Speculations that this month’s border intruders may have been associated with a radical group are not completely unfounded. The encounter took place near the Panj border post, which is a remote region of northern Afghanistan that has seen its fair share of poverty, drug smuggling, and violence. The Panj river shapes the border between the two countries and has been the scene of several security-related incidents, including the kidnapping of four Tajikistani border guards in June of last year.
Authorities say the area is also a key location for the active inter-country drug-smuggling industry. The recently constructed US-funded ‘Friendship’ bridge connecting Tajikistan and Afghanistan, has facilitated this process for smugglers, allowing Afghan-produced drugs to be transported and fast-tracked to Russia and the rest of Europe for distribution. Although the Tajikistani government launched a wide-scale cleanup of the areas surrounding Panj last year, the territory remains a murky zone, with reports of corruption and bribery common among officials and guards.
Border incidents, such as the recent March 6th clash, have led many to believe that there is an imminent threat of a Taliban ‘spillover’ into Tajikistan from its southern neighbour. The terrorist organization has been known to conduct operations perilously close to the two countries’ border. Furthermore, Afghan officials have reported that the Imam Sahib District of Afghanistan’s Kunduz province, which borders southern Tajikistan, is largely controlled by the Taliban.
At the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit last May, Tajikistani President Emomali Rahmon emphasized the urgency of the matter, telling the delegates that “[t]he flurry of activity by the Taliban near the border of the CIS, as well as the appearance of the components of the so-called Islamic State, poses a threat to the whole Commonwealth.”
Civilians have also voiced legitimate concerns that the small country will fall prey to the same extremist activity that is currently crippling parts of Afghanistan. These concerns have been reflected in the Tajikistani government’s harsh ‘anti-religion’ policies, which were established as if to counteract the weaknesses of the border in keeping out undesirable elements of radicalism.
Despite Islam being the religion of nearly 98% of the country’s 8 million people, there has been a legal ban on the Islamic veil in all Tajikistani schools and universities since 2005. Over the past few years, authorities have been closing down mosques, forcibly shaving the beards of nearly 13,000 men, and most recently- have even banned the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (the IRPT), which had been the only substantial opposition to the current government.
Tajikistan’s President Rahmon has openly spoken of his intention to maintain a “democratic and secular country based on the rule of law,” which ought to be “mainly focused on the development of secularism and national and secular thinking.” His governments’ attempts to create such a state have, however, resulted in a drop in Tajikistan’s human rights record by Freedom House. Currently, the country has been pushed down to seven, the lowest possible ranking.
An abysmal human rights record is just one of Tajikistan’s many problems. The poorest of the former Soviet states faces a plethora of obstacles to seeing success in the 21st century. Coupled with pressing border security issues, widespread corruption, a weak economic infrastructure, and the lowest GDP per capita among all the former Soviet republics continue to plague the country today.
While Tajikistan’s difficulties have been largely overlooked by the international community in light of the pressing crises in Europe and the Middle East, the small country’s border struggles present a very real concern: the concern that radical groups might forge a pathway to Central Asia through the fragile state and open up a second front in their ‘fight’ against modern civilization. With the recent introduction of joint defence practices, Russia seems to have recognized the urgency of the extremist threat and, it is safe to say that it would be prudent for other states to acknowledge these developments as well.
Just as importantly, however, Tajikistan ought to jointly focus on its domestic development programme and internally strengthening the country, which would give it the foundational infrastructure to hold its ground against undesirable elements.
Lastly, as recommended by human rights organizations and the United Nations, decision-makers should rest assured that fighting extremism need not come at the cost of inhibiting religious and personal freedoms.
- Ceasefire In Colombia Ends Half A Century Of war - August 30, 2016
- Nepal Appoints First Female Chief Justice - July 18, 2016
- China Cuts Diplomatic Relations With Taiwan - June 28, 2016