Tajikistan-Afghanistan border clash kills 5

Three alleged members of a "terrorist origanisation" have been killed in a military operation in the Shamsiddin Shohin district according to Tajikistan’s Border Troops.

The Border troops also say the deceased three crossed into the country from Afghanistan late on 23 December intending to carry out terrorist attacsks.

An official statement published by NIAT ‘Khovar’, the Press Centre of the Border Troops said, “At 23:30, three members of a terrorist organisation crossed the state border from Afghanistan and infiltrated the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan.”

“As a result of timely operational and investigative measures, at 11:15 on 24 December, the location of the terrorists was established on the territory of Tajikistan.” the statement read.

“The terrorists did not comply with the demand of Tajik border guards to surrender and offered armed resistance,” the statement said, adding that, “Their objective was to carry out an armed attack on one of the border outposts.”

The Border Troops said the operation ended with all three attackers killed. “As a result of the combat operation, all three terrorists were neutralised,” the statement said. It added that weapons seized at the scene included “M-16 firearms, a Kalashnikov assault rifle, pistols with silencers, hand grenades, explosive substances and other military equipment”.

Tajik authorities confirmed that two servicemen were killed during the clash. “Unfortunately, in the course of the armed confrontation and while preventing this terrorist act, two servicemen were killed,” the statement said, naming them as Navruzbekov Zirekhbon Nagzibekovich and Kurbonov Ismatullo Gulomovich.

Tajikistan said this was the third such incident in a month. “Over the past month, this is already the third case of an armed attack and illegal crossing of the state border from Afghanistan,” the Border Troops said.

The statement accused Kabul of failing to secure the border, saying, “These facts clearly demonstrate serious and repeated irresponsibility in fulfilling international obligations.”

So far, Afghanistan’s de facto authorities have not publicly commented on the latest incident and have not responded to queries from AnewZ.

In an earlier statement released on 28 November 2025, Afghanistan’s foreign ministry condemned separate attacks in Tajikistan in which Chinese nationals were killed.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan strongly condemns the incident,” the statement said, adding that Kabul “assures the Government of Tajikistan of its full cooperation” and stands ready for “information-sharing, technical collaboration and joint assessments”.

Tajikistan’s Border Troops said the situation along the frontier is currently “calm” and that “the investigation is ongoing”.

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