Last Wednesday, violence broke the fragile calm along the Tajik border. Assailants crossed in from the territory of Afghanistan and killed two Tajik border guards. Tajik forces returned fire, killing three of the attackers. Security sources later revealed that some of the assailants belonged to the Ansarullah group, a terrorist organization in Tajikistan, and that one of them carried an Afghanistan national identity card in his pocket. Experts say the Taliban support such groups and allow the territory of Afghanistan to be used against neighboring countries. Yet, three days after the incident, the Taliban remained silent. Tajikistan responded by demanding an official apology for what it described as irresponsibility and a failure to meet commitments.
On Wednesday, December 24, 2025, sources confirmed to the Hasht-e Subh Daily that Tajik border guards shot and killed two armed fighters who had fired toward Tajik territory. According to these sources, the exchange of gunfire took place in the border area between Shahr-e Buzurg district in Badakhshan province and the direction of Chah Ab district in Takhar province.
A day later, images of the bodies of three attackers reached the Hasht-e Subh Daily. The men had opened fire on Tajik border guards and lost their lives in the clash. Sources identified them as fighters from Tajikistan’s Ansarullah group, which operates with Taliban support. According to the same sources, Haji Bashir Noorzai, known as the godfather of Afghanistan’s narcotics trade and a figure linked to the Taliban Supreme Leader, directs these fighters in the border areas.
Fayazuddin Ghiasi, a former diplomat, told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that available information shows the attackers entered Tajik territory using Afghanistan identity documents. He explained that terrorist groups obtain these national identity cards from different parts of the country to avoid detection. A duplicate Afghanistan identity card, he said, was found in the pocket of one of the terrorists killed in Tajikistan.
Ghiasi added that clashes between Pakistan and the Taliban have pushed more terrorists toward the northern borders of Afghanistan. Over the past month, he said, these groups have held several meetings in Baghlan, Kunduz, and Badakhshan and have moved freely. He stressed that while the Taliban support these cross-border terrorist forces, they lack the capacity to control them. As a result, these groups now pose a serious threat to neighboring countries, including Tajikistan.
Qasim Shah Eskandar, head of the Afghanistan and Regional Studies Center in Tajikistan, echoed these concerns in an interview with the Hasht-e Subh Daily. He said the ongoing situation has created constant and deep anxiety in Tajikistan about border security. Over the past two years, he noted, many extremist and terrorist groups have relocated to northern Afghanistan along the Tajik border. Referring to three recent attacks launched from Afghan territory, he said five foreign citizens were killed and several others wounded, while the latest incident claimed the lives of two Tajik border guards.
Eskandar added that security concerns have halted road construction in Tajikistan’s border areas with Afghanistan, even as the Taliban insist they pose no threat to Tajikistan or other countries. He called on the Taliban to honor their promises to ensure border security and emphasized that Tajikistan has consistently supported stability in Afghanistan. He said the presence of terrorist groups has long worried Tajikistan, and recent attacks have only deepened these fears and sharpened the country’s focus on security.
On Thursday, December 25, 2025, the government of Tajikistan announced that three members of a terrorist organization crossed the border from Afghanistan and entered Tajik territory in the Shamsiddin Shohin district. Tajik officials said clashes between border guards and the armed men left three militants and two Tajik security personnel dead.
Following the attack, the Tajik government again called on the Taliban to issue an official apology. The State Committee for National Security said the repeated armed attacks over the past month show that the Taliban administration has repeatedly and seriously failed to meet its international obligations and its promises to ensure security and stability along the shared border and to counter terrorist groups.
These concerns come amid earlier attacks in which five Chinese citizens were killed on Tajik soil by armed groups operating from Afghanistan. Sources said Taliban gunfire killed two of the victims during clashes between Taliban fighters and Tajik border guards. A separate drone attack, organized by a network linked to the Taliban, killed the other three in Shahr-e Buzurg, Badakhshan.
In a recent report, the United Nations Security Council said member states have identified more than 20 international and regional terrorist groups active in Afghanistan. These include al-Qaeda, Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM/TIP), and Jamaat Ansarullah of Tajikistan. The report found that the Taliban’s system of governance, especially outside major cities, has failed to provide effective policing or authority.
The Security Council’s Monitoring Team reported that Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan intensified its attacks during the reporting period, mainly targeting Pakistan’s army and government institutions. It described repeated TTP attacks as the most serious short-term threat to the stability of Taliban authorities. Given long-standing ties, the report said, the Taliban are unlikely to take concrete action against TTP. Even if they chose to act, they would probably lack the capacity to do so.
The Monitoring Team also noted that al-Qaeda’s status, strength, and position in Afghanistan remain unchanged from previous reports. According to the findings, the Taliban continue to host and support the group, and senior al-Qaeda commanders live in Kabul.
After the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan and concerns grew about the presence of terrorist groups, Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan began tightening their borders. They erected walls and barbed wire, established security bases, and conducted joint military exercises in an effort to contain the rising security threats.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
کشته شدن مرزبانان تاجیکستانی و سکوت طالبان؛ تهدیدات امنیتی منطقه افزایش یافته است
