Clash on the Tajik-Afghan border

Tajik border guards intercepted a large shipment of drugs. The smugglers offered armed resistance.

According to state media, operatives from the State National Security Committee (GKNB) in the Khatlon region, together with soldiers from the 9th border post “Panjob” of the GKNB border troops, prevented unauthorized entry from Afghan territory. As a result of the shootout, one person was killed.

It was reported that in the border area of the village of Sayrob, in the rural jamoat of Panjob in the Mir Said Ali Hamadoni district, an illegal crossing of the state border by a group of four armed Afghan smugglers was detected and thwarted.

During the attempted arrest, the smugglers, whom the authorities described as “members of a transnational drug trafficking group,” were armed and did not comply with the orders of Tajik security forces and border guards, offering fierce armed resistance.

As a result of the shootout, 50-year-old Mahmadkhoshim Valadi Mirakbar, a native of the village of Navobod in the Yangikala district of Takhar province, Afghanistan, was killed. According to Tajik security forces, he was the leader of the smuggler group. The other members fled and disappeared into Afghanistan.

At the scene, 71 kg 929 grams of hashish, one AK-74 assault rifle, three magazines, and 87 rounds of 7.62 caliber ammunition were found and seized.

In connection with this incident, the State National Security Committee of the Republic of Tajikistan in the Khatlon region has initiated a criminal case under Articles 200, Part 4, Clause “g”, 289, Part 3, 335, Part 2, and 195, Part 2, Clause “b” of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan, and a preliminary investigation is underway.

The clash between Tajik security forces and smugglers at the border with Afghanistan occurred against the backdrop of numerous complaints from Tajikistan that large-scale drug trafficking is being conducted from the territory of the neighboring state. However, the Taliban accuses neighboring countries of allowing drugs to enter Afghanistan from third countries, including Tajikistan.