Tensions between the Taliban and Tajikistan, which shares around 1400 km-long border with northern Afghanistan, have been growing ever since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan. Dushanbe remains the only Central Asian country, which took a relatively hard line on the developments in Afghanistan. Tajik officials suspect potential infiltration bid by Tajik Islamist militants, who have fought along with the Taliban in Afghanistan, into Tajikistan, according to a report in Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty portal. 

Hundreds of Tajik nationals are believed to have fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan. 

"We do have such reports (of infiltration)," the report quoted an official of the Tajikistan Border Services. "Regardless of whether it will happen or not, we see certain security threats from the other side of the border and we are prepared to deal with them," he added. 

Tajik President Emamoli Rahmon had earlier criticized the Taliban’s attitude and the incidents of rights’ violation of Afghanistan’s ethnic minorities, especially Tajiks who dominate northern Afghanistan. Rahmon also asked the Taliban to form a truly inclusive government, representative of all ethnic groups.  

Taliban’s Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi condemned the remark of the Tajik President, and issued a blunt warning, saying, “Every action has a reaction. And, we don’t allow anyone to interfere in our affairs.” 

Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, two of Afghanistan’s northern neighbors, remain worried about the spillover effects of the Taliban victory as both former Soviet republics have been facing low-level Islamist insurgencies for years. Militants often sneak into Afghanistan to escape retribution. 

Tajik officials are particularly concerned about a notorious 25-year-old Tajik militant commander named Mohammad Sharifov who, the report says, was put in charge of security in five border districts seized by the Taliban in the northeastern Afghan province of Badakhshan in June. Sharifov, also known by the alias Mahdi Arsalon, is believed to have traveled to Kabul after it fell to the Taliban, apparently for consultations with Taliban leaders there. He returned to the border region weeks later. 

Significantly, Ahmad Massoud and Amrullah Saleh, the two leaders who had put up the last leg of resistance against the Taliban in Panjshir valley, some 90 miles north of Kabul, are also said to be living in safe houses in Tajikistan.

Recently reports suggested there was some fighting between the Taliban forces and anti-Taliban local resistance forces in Takhar, another northern Afghan province near the Afghan border with Tajikistan. The Taliban suspects these fighters are receiving assistance from Tajikistan. 

(SAM)