Tajikistan’s security services announced on Sunday that they “neutralized” four “terrorists” who crossed the border from neighboring Afghanistan.
The incident occurred in the southern Khatlon region after the individuals reportedly refused to surrender their weapons, according to the state-owned Khovar news agency.
This confrontation is the latest in a series of violent escalations along the 1,350-kilometer mountainous frontier.
Since November, Tajikistan has reported at least five deadly incidents claiming the lives of 16 people including border guards, Chinese workers and individuals labeled by Dushanbe as “smugglers” and “militants.”
Furthermore, Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon remains a vocal critic of the current interim regime in Afghanistan.
He has consistently demanded that Kabul respect the rights of ethnic Tajiks who comprise roughly a quarter of Afghanistan’s population.
Despite this political friction, Dushanbe maintains pragmatic links through electricity supplies and border markets.
Security concerns have intensified following attacks on Chinese nationals in late 2024.
Tajik authorities are particularly wary of groups like Jamaat Ansarullah, which a UN report identified as having a presence in Afghanistan with the explicit goal of destabilizing Tajikistan.
Additionally, the presence of Daesh-Khorasan continues to haunt regional security assessments.
Dushanbe has urged the Taliban to take decisive action against the militant groups and drug traffickers operating in the volatile border zones to prevent further regional destabilization.
In a comprehensive report released in late 2025 by the UN’s Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, investigators asserted that more than 20 international and regional terrorist organizations remain active within Afghanistan.
These findings directly contradict the Taliban’s official narrative that no such groups operate on their soil.
The report highlights that groups such as Al-Qaeda, ISIL-K, and Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are not only present but have, in some instances, seen their fighters absorbed into local Taliban security ranks to leverage their combat experience.
Furthermore, the UN noted that organizations like Jamaat Ansarullah and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan continue to use Afghan territory as a base to plot regional destabilization, particularly targeting neighboring Central Asian states like Tajikistan.
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