Two Tajik border officers killed in smuggler clash near Afghan frontier

Two Tajik officers have been killed in a deadly confrontation along the Tajikistan–Afghanistan border, according to multiple media reports, though Tajik authorities have yet to issue an official statement on the incident.

The clash occurred on December 24 in the Bahorak area of Tajikistan’s Shamsiddin Shohin district, sources told Radio Ozodi, as cited by KyrTAG. According to these sources, the fighting broke out between Tajik border guards and an armed group of smugglers who had crossed from Afghanistan.

Radio Ozodi identified the two deceased officers as Ismatullo Kurbanov, aged 28, and Zirebon Navruzbekov, aged 33. Both men served in the Sarychashma military unit. A message obtained by the outlet and accompanied by photographs of the two officers stated that they were “wounded and killed in a clash with armed Afghan smuggling groups while carrying out their military duties.”

There were also unconfirmed reports of a Tajik soldier being killed in the same incident, though Radio Ozodi said it has not yet been able to verify this information.

Accounts from sources differed on the precise toll among the opposing group. One source told Radio Ozodi that “several people were killed by smugglers, and one person was arrested.” Another source said that a total of eight smugglers were involved in the clash, adding that “four escaped.”

Separate reporting by the Kabul-based newspaper Hasht-e Subh offered a similar account. Citing its own sources, the outlet reported on December 24 that two Tajik border guards were killed as a result of shelling from Afghan territory. According to Hasht-e Subh, Tajik forces returned fire, killing two armed men from Afghanistan. One source identified the men as drug traffickers, although their identities have not been officially confirmed.

The incident took place on the same day Tajikistan opened four new border checkpoints along its frontier with Afghanistan. Sources said the new posts were constructed in mountainous and hard-to-reach border areas that had previously lacked adequate protection.

Official figures indicate that 80 border posts have been built along the Tajik–Afghan border in recent years, some with support from international organisations and foreign partners. On December 24, Tajikistan also activated a new training range for tank crews at a military facility near the Afghan border.

Tajikistan shares an almost 1,400-kilometre border with Afghanistan. Despite repeated assurances from the Taliban that Afghan territory will not be used by terrorist groups, Tajik authorities say they remain deeply concerned about security across the border, where they believe drug traffickers and militant groups continue to operate.

Security concerns have intensified in recent weeks following two attacks launched from Afghan territory into Tajikistan’s Shamsiddin Shohin and Darvaz districts. Over the past month, those attacks killed and wounded a total of ten Chinese workers. Some of the victims were employed at a gold-mining operation in the former Shurabad district, while others were working on road construction projects in Darvaz.

Tajikistan has condemned those incidents as terrorist acts, while China has called for thorough investigations into both attacks.

By Tamilla Hasanova