More than 1,000 Afghan troops have retreated to Tajikistan after battles with the Taliban movement [outlawed in Russia], the press center of the Border Guard Troops of Tajikistan’s State Committee for National Security said in a statement posted on the website of the Khovar state news agency on Monday.
"In the course of shootouts with the Taliban, 1,037 military servicemen of Afghan government troops retreated through the border areas of Shamsiddin Shohin District (104 people), Ruzvai (213 people) and Nulvand (83 people) in Darvaz District, Humrogi, Vanj District (173 people), the city of Khorog (312), Ishkashim (102 people) and Langar (50 people) of Ishkashim District to the territory of Tajikistan in order to save the lives of military personnel," the report said.
The press center noted that, relying on the principle of good-neighborliness and non-interference in Afghanistan’s domestic affairs, the Afghan troops were allowed to cross Tajikistan’s border. "Currently, the situation in this border areas is under the control of Tajikistan’s border guards," the committee stressed.
Afghan troops had to cross the Tajik border several times over the past two weeks. The aggravation of the situation on the border between the two countries topped the agenda of a telephone conversation between Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon and his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani held on Sunday. Tajikistan’s stance on the issue, specifically, non-interference in Afghanistan’s domestic affairs and all-round support for the authorities’ efforts to establish peace, stability and security was reaffirmed.