About 8,000 Militants Threaten Afghan-Tajik Border Security - CIS Official

About 8,000 Militants Threaten Afghan-Tajik Border Security - CIS Official

Around 8,000 militants of the Taliban Islamist movement and the Islamic State terror group (IS, outlawed in Russia) remain in Afghanistan near the border with Tajikistan, aggravating security situation in the region, Chairman of the Coordination Service of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Council of Border Troops' Commanders, Col. Gen. Alexander Manilov, said on Thursday

MINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th October, 2019) Around 8,000 militants of the Taliban Islamist movement and the Islamic State terror group (IS, outlawed in Russia) remain in Afghanistan near the border with Tajikistan, aggravating security situation in the region, Chairman of the Coordination Service of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Council of Border Troops' Commanders, Col. Gen. Alexander Manilov, said on Thursday.

"The most difficult situation is currently recorded on the Tajik-Afghan border, according to the heads of border services. A large number of militants - from the Taliban and the Islamic State - have recently arrived there. According to our estimations, about 8,000 militants, who arrived from hotpots such as Iraq, Syria and others, are deployed there," Manilov said after the meeting of the CIS council of border guard chiefs.

According to the official, most of the militants are from Caucasian and African nations.

Manilov pointed out that the CIS border services' officials had adopted a document on strengthening border security in 2020-2025. He also added that the participants of the meeting had discussed the schedule of joint drills, aimed at boosting the CIS border security.

The Commonwealth of Independent States comprises 11 states that emerged as a result of the dissolution of the Soviet Union: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine.