Daily Times

MOSCOW: On Thursday, Russia while pointing out to the reports of ongoing deporting of troop at the border, has urged its ally Tajikistan and Afghanistan to sort out their conflicts in a peaceful and resolve in a mutually acceptable manner.

“We observe with concern the growing tensions in Tajik-Afghan relations amid mutually strong statements by the leadership of the two countries,” TASS quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexei Zaitsev as saying.

In view of the Taliban’s information, tens of thousands of special forces fighters have been deployed in the Takhar province of northeastern Afghanistan, near to Tajikistan.

However, Tajikistan’s foreign ministry and Taliban spokesmen were not available at the moment for comment on the reports.

Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon has denied to accept the Taliban-appointed cabinet in Kabul and criticized the violations of human rights in the Taliban’s siege of the Panjshir province where opposition forces had rallied.

In response, the Taliban warned Dushanbe for involving in Afghanistan’s domestic affairs. Ethnic Tajiks make up more than a quarter of Afghanistan’s population, but Taliban members predominantly belong to the biggest ethnic group, Pashtuns.

On Wednesday, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed reservations on US-trained Afghan pilots and other personnel being held in Tajikistan after fleeing across the border from Afghanistan last month as the Taliban took power.

In the final moments, the US-backed Afghan Air Force personnel flew dozens of military aircraft across the Afghan border to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and were detained there.