The upsurge in terrorist activity in Afghanistan coupled with the hasty pullout of foreign troops from this country and the rapid deterioration of the situation demand necessary measures, and work here is already underway, said Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, APA reports citing TASS.
"Today, joint work on neutralizing threats from the territory of neighboring Afghanistan comes to the fore. The hasty withdrawal of foreign troops from there has triggered a rapid deterioration of the situation and an upsurge and intensification of terrorist activity. This situation calls for appropriate measures, and work on this is already underway," the top official said during talks with his Tajik counterpart Sherali Mirzo on Wednesday.
According to Shoigu, a number of joint exercises have been planned, both on a bilateral basis and within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, to develop measures to counter terrorist threats emanating from Afghanistan.
"Additional gratuitous deliveries of Russian weapons and equipment to arm the Tajik military have been organized. We continue training qualified Tajik military staff. We are training them both at our military educational establishments and at institutions on Russia’s 201st military base. We are supplying everything necessary for military training. We pay particular attention to strengthening the combat potential of our base and fine-tuning plans on jointly repelling any possible infiltration by militants," the defense minister specified.
He emphasized that the Russian side is ready "to provide any help needed to [our] Tajik friends."