An incident occurred on the Tajik-Afghan border, resulting in the deaths of two officers from Tajikistan and several Afghan militants. Official authorities have not yet made any comments. According to certain sources, reported by the "Ozodi" radio station, the clash took place on December 24 in the Bahorak area of the Shamsiddin-Shokhin district.
According to available information, the clash occurred between Tajik border guards and an armed group of smugglers from Afghanistan.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty identified the deceased officers: 28-year-old Ismatullo Kurbanov and 33-year-old Zirebon Navruzbekov, who served in the military unit "Sarychashma".
In a statement from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty with images of the officers, it is claimed that they "were wounded and killed while performing their official duties in a clash with Afghan smugglers".
There is also information that one Tajik soldier died during this conflict; however, the radio has not yet confirmed this information.
"Some smugglers were killed, one was detained," reported one of the informants to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Another source noted that the group of smugglers consisted of eight people, of whom "four escaped".
Meanwhile, the publication "Hashti Subh", based in Kabul, reported on December 24 that "as a result of shelling from the Afghan side, two Tajik border guards were killed". This same report states that in the return fire from Tajik forces, two Afghan men were killed, whom one of the sources identified as drug traffickers, although their identities have not been established.
The incident occurred on the same day that Tajikistan opened four new border checkpoints with Afghanistan. A statement on the presidential website noted that President Emomali Rahmon and leaders of the security forces participated in the opening ceremony in an online format.
According to the source, the new border points were created in mountainous and hard-to-reach areas that previously lacked proper protection.
According to official information, in recent years, 80 new border points have been built on the Tajik-Afghan border, many of which were established with the help of various international organizations and countries. On December 24, a training ground for tank crews was also opened at a Tajik military facility located on the border with Afghanistan.
The length of the Tajik-Afghan border is nearly 1400 kilometers. Despite the Taliban's assurances that the territory of Afghanistan will not be used by terrorist groups, Tajik authorities express concern about the situation on the other side of the border, claiming that drug traffickers and militants are hiding there.
In the past month, there have been two attacks from the territory of Afghanistan on the areas of Shamsiddin-Shokhin and Darvoz, resulting in the deaths and injuries of ten Chinese workers. Some of them were working at a gold mining enterprise in the former Shurabad district, while others were engaged in road construction in Darvoz. Tajikistan condemned these attacks as acts of terrorism, while China called for an investigation into both incidents.
