Russia has sent 12 armoured vehicles and a consignment of weapons for close combat to beef up Tajikistan’s military capability in view of the fresh threat that has emerged from Islamist militants with the Taliban taking over neighbouring Afghanistan.
"Against the backdrop of growing instability near Tajikistan's southern border, we are working together to ensure the security of our states," said Major General Yevgeny Tsindyaikin in a defence ministry statement.
The transfer of hardware, which also includes close combat equipment and protective gear, will modernise and significantly enhance Tajikistan's military capabilities, the ministry said. Russia permanently bases a full motorised division in Tajikistan for quick deployment against a regional threat, including one radiating from Afghansitan. Tajikistan is also part of the Moscow led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), with Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia as the other members.
The Tajiks have been incensed by the Pakistan backed Taliban attack in the Panjshir valley where Afghan ethnic Tajiks are in majority.
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Russia is worried about the potential fallout in the wider region and the possibility of Islamist militants infiltrating Central Asia, which Moscow sees as its southern defensive buffer.
Tajikistan's border with Afghanistan stretches for 1,344 km along mountainous terrain that is difficult to keep a watch on.
Russia has held military exercises in Tajikistan and strengthened its military base in the country, since the U.S. withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and the Taliban's lightning takeover.
Around 500 Russian motorised infantry troops had carried out military drills near the Afghanistan border at the end of August, the Interfax news agency had reported.
Test firing from a S-300 air defence system in a simulated attack on the base was was also undertaken as part of the exercise.
This was for the third time in August that Russia had carried out a military exercise close to the Afghanistan border.
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu has also said that Moscow would work more closely with the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), an alliance of six former Soviet states, as withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan raises regional security risks.
While Russia has welcomed the U.S. exit from Afghanistan it has also created a security problem for Moscow, as it fears that an ascendant Taliban poses a danger of radical Islam spreading across adjoining Central Asian Republics which form a southern buffer for Russia.
The CSTO is likely to hold another exercise in Kyrgyzstan this month where Russia has another military airbase.
Russia has still not recognised the Taliban government and said it would watch the situation closely and go by the Taliban’s deeds rather than words before it takes any decision on a formal recognition.
