Tajikistan-Taliban border clashes: What's behind them, why it affects China

"Tensions are flaring along the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border in Central Asia with the Tajik government reporting multiple armed incursions this month, straining its fragile relationship with Afghanistan's Taliban leaders. More than a dozen people have been killed in attacks by men whom Tajik authorities call terrorists and the resulting clashes with Tajik forces, officials in Dushanbe and Beijing said. Victims include Chinese nationals working in remote areas of the mountainous former Soviet republic."

"Tajikistan has long opposed the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, a country it shares a largely unsecured 1,340km (830-mile) border with. Despite cautious diplomatic engagement between the two countries to adjust to new regional realities, analysts said, the frequency of the recent border clashes risks eroding the Taliban's credibility and raises questions about its capacity to enforce order and security."

"The border runs along the Panj river through the remote, mountainous terrain of southern Tajikistan and northeastern Afghanistan. On Thursday, Tajikistan's State Committee for National Security said in a statement that three members of a terrorist organisation crossed into Tajik territory on Tuesday. The committee added that the men were located the following morning and exchanged fire with Tajik border guards. Five people, including the three intruders, were killed, it said."

Unknown assailants entering Tajik territory have attacked and killed more than a dozen people, including Chinese nationals working in remote, mountainous areas. Multiple armed incursions this month have strained Tajikistan's fragile relationship with the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan. In the latest clashes, at least five people died in Shamsiddin Shokhin district, including three intruders described as terrorists. Tajikistan has long opposed the Taliban and shares a largely unsecured 1,340km border along the Panj river with Afghanistan. Analysts warn that repeated border attacks risk eroding Taliban credibility and raise questions about its capacity to enforce order and security.

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