Russia and Tajikistan started a five-day joint military maneuver at the "Khorb Maidun" training ground near the Afghan border.

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA): Russia and Tajikistan started a five-day joint military maneuver near the border of Afghanistan on Monday, April 3^rd.
 
It has been said that the Russian and Tajik forces have started this maneuver at the "Khorb Maidun" training ground in Tajikistan, 20 kilometers from the Afghan border.
 
In this maneuver, the military of Russia and Tajikistan will practice joint operations in mountainous areas to patrol the Afghan border, prepare their forces to respond to threats and eliminate illegal armed gangs.
 
Russian media have reported that units from the 201st military base of Russia with more than 300 personnel have participated in this exercise, which includes armored forces, artillery, and countermeasures against chemical and biological attacks.
 
The 201st military base located in Tajikistan is the largest Russian military center outside the country's borders. This base is equipped with vehicles carrying armored weapons, artillery, reconnaissance units, air defense forces, countermeasures against chemical and biological attacks, and signaling forces.
 
Russia and Tajikistan built this base about a decade ago and it is supposed to be active until 2042.
 
Since the Islamic Emirate came to power in Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, this is the second time that Russian and Tajik forces have held a joint exercise near the border with Afghanistan.
 
The member countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization are worried about the increase in threats from Afghanistan and emphasize joint cooperation to repel these threats. Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Belarus and Russia are members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
 
Tajikistan and Russia follow the developments in Afghanistan more than any other member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. In recent months, the group known as "Khorasan Branch of the Islamic State" (ISIS) has carried out attacks in northern Afghanistan. Last month, Dawood Muzamil, the governor of Balkh, was killed in a suicide attack in his office. ISIS claimed responsibility for this attack.
 
Also, in the attack of the ISIS terrorist group on the offices of Tebyan Center and AVA news agency in Mazar-e-Sharif in the last 20 years, including two journalists of this news agency, about forty people were martyred and injured.
 
The Islamic Emirate calls the fear of terrorists infiltrating from Afghanistan to the member countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization unfounded and says that it will not allow any group to use Afghanistan's soil against another country.
 
Two days ago, the Intelligence Directorate of the Islamic Emirate published a video about the arrest of a member of the ISIS terrorist group, who is one of the perpetrators of the attack on the Tebyan center and the AVA news agency, and the recent explosions in Balkh.