Lavrov says if Tajikistan attacked from Afghanistan border, CSTO will react

In case Tajikistan is attacked from the Afghanistani border, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will immediately begin considering the issue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergeyi Lavrov has said when lecturing on “Russia’s international activities for the development of Russian regions” at the Far Eastern Federal University, TASS reported.

“If there is an attack on Tajikistan, of course, it will be immediately discussed by the CSTO,” he said. Lavrov also reminded that Moscow and Dushanbe are allies in the CSTO, Russia has a military base in Tajikistan. “So we will fulfill our obligations,” he said.

On Monday, the press service of the State Committee for National Security Frontier Troops of Tajikistan reported that more than 1000 Afghan soldiers had penetrated the territory of the republic after the battles with the supporters of the Taliban movement. In the last two weeks, there have been several cases of forced retreat of Afghan soldiers to Tajikistan. Earlier, CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas stated that the situation in the northern regions of Afghanistan is deteriorating, causing serious concern for the organization. According to him, it is necessary to provide assistance to Tajikistan to ensure the security of the southern borders. Yesterday, the ambassador of Tajikistan to the CSTO asked the CSTO members to help protect the republic’s border with Afghanistan.