Afghanistan: Soldiers flee to Tajikistan after Taliban clashes
More than 1,000 Afghan soldiers fled to neighbouring Tajikistan after a recent clash with Taliban militants, officials have said. Tajik border guards said Afghan soldiers were being provided with shelter and food, but further details were not available. The retreat is the third time Afghan soldiers have fled to Tajikistan over the past three days and the fifth case over the past two weeks. In total, nearly 1,600 soldiers have crossed the border.
The latest group of Afghan troops sought refuge early on Monday morning after fighting with militants during the night, Tajikistan's National Security Committee said. Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told the BBC many districts had fallen to the Taliban after Afghan soldiers refused to fight.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani insists that the country's security forces are fully capable of keeping insurgents at bay, but there have also been reports of more soldiers seeking refuge in Pakistan and Uzbekistan to escape the fighting.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57720103
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Tajikistan calls up reservists to bolster border as Afghan troops, fleeing Taliban, seek refuge
Tajikistan's president on Monday ordered the mobilization of 20,000 military reservists to bolster the border with Afghanistan after more than 1,000 Afghan security personnel fled across the frontier in response to Taliban militant advances. The crossings on Sunday underscored the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan ...
Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon made a flurry of international calls to discuss the situation with allies in the region, including Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin whose country has a big military presence in Tajikistan. Russia operates its largest military base abroad in Tajikistan, where it stations tanks, helicopters and ground attack aircraft.
Putin assured Rakhmon that Moscow would support the former Soviet republic to stabilise its border with Afghanistan ...
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/hundreds-afghan-security-personnel-flee-into-tajikistan-taliban-advances-2021-07-05/