Shooting between GKNB and Ministry of Internal Affairs forces in Tajikistan

A shootout occurred at the border with Afghanistan between the border troops of the State Committee for National Security and the forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Tajikistan.

The incident took place at 1 a.m. on the night of April 6, near the highway connecting the Shamsiddin Shohin district with the Darvaz district. The border service of the SCNS wounded one MIA officer and detained two other employees of this agency near a drug stash.

Although several days have passed since the incident, the authorities of Tajikistan have not commented on it. Radio Ozodi, citing its sources, confirmed the information. Sources from the publication described the incident as a “serious misunderstanding.”

“Three employees of the MIA’s Drug Control Agency were at the border with Afghanistan to conduct an operation. The border guards mistook them for smugglers and opened fire,” the source reported.

As a result of the shootout, MIA Major D.M. sustained injuries to his leg and abdomen and was hospitalized in the Shamsiddin Shohin area. Colonel F.Sh. and Lieutenant Colonel N.K. were detained and taken to the SCNS pre-trial detention center in Dushanbe.

The incident is being investigated by the military prosecutor’s office of Tajikistan. The SCNS has not yet released the detained MIA officers.

The MIA officers stated during interrogation that they received information about the location of a drug stash at the border with Afghanistan and went there, but were fired upon by the border guards.

The border service of the SCNS, in turn, reports that they received information about a planned deal between smugglers in this area. They did not know that one of the parties involved were MIA employees.

“They informed the investigation that they saw an unknown Mercedes-Benz vehicle in the prohibited border zone at night and wanted to check it, but it did not comply and left. The border guards assert that no agency has the right to conduct operations at the border without coordination with the SCNS, so they acted according to the law,” an informed source told Radio Ozodi.

It is reported that the shootout between the country’s law enforcement agencies is an unprecedented case. The incident occurred in an area known as a drug trafficking route from Afghanistan to Tajikistan, where clashes between border guards and smugglers have already occurred multiple times.

Nevertheless, Tajik experts consider the actions of the SCNS justified and express doubts about the actions of the MIA. Since the incident occurred in the area of responsibility of the border troops, rather than the MIA, this raises suspicions of possible involvement of MIA employees in drug trafficking.