Tajikistan alarmed by IS activity at its border with Afghanistan

DUSHANBE, March 18. /TASS/. Tajikistan is alarmed by the activity of Islamic State’s armed groups close to its border with Afghanistan, a spokesman for the republic’s State Committee for National Security told TASS on Wednesday in comments on the border situation.

"Over the recent time, we have been witnessing movements of armed groups in the [northern] Afghan provinces of Tahar and Kunduz about 60-80 kilometers from the zone of responsibility of our Pyandzh border guard detachment," the officer said.

He said the aim of this activity was not yet clear, but such concentration of armed groups was alarming, as routes of terrorist groups went through areas not controlled by the Afghan government forces. 

He said the strength of armed groups was reported as some 1,000 people, including supporters of the Islamic State, as well as joining them Taliban fighters, gunmen from the Uzbek Islamic movement and Ansarullah movement, whose emissaries have been actively working in Tajikistan for years.

"We are closely contacting with our colleagues from Russia, Afghanistan, partners from other countries" on that problem, the officer said.