By Catherine Putz
Could Russian troops return to the Tajik-Afghan border? Only if asked.
Tuesday, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Russia’s answer to NATO, gathered in Dushanbe for a summit. Attended by the presidents of the six member states — Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Armenia, and the host, Tajikistan — the summit was preceded by a day of bilateral meetings. ISIS, also known as Islamic State, dominated the conversation and an unnamed source indicated that if Tajikistan asked, Russian troops would return to the Afghan border.
Of the three Central Asian states that share borders with Afghanistan, only Tajikistan is a member of the CSTO. Uzbekistan withdrew from the group in 2012. The idea of Russians once again at the Afghan border isn’t radical. Up until 2005, Russian border guards helped Tajikistan patrol the Tajik-Afghan border. In 2011, an RFE/RL article featured General Sharaf Fayzulloev, then-deputy commander of Tajikistan’s border guard forces discussing how Russia and the U.S. helped modernize the Tajik border service:
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