Overview
- Three armed men crossed from Afghanistan near Shamsiddin Shohin late Tuesday, refused to surrender, and were killed in a firefight that also left two Tajik border guards dead.
- Tajik authorities said the raiders intended to attack a border post and that recovered items included M-16 and Kalashnikov rifles, pistols with silencers, grenades, explosives, and a night-vision device.
- The National Security Committee accused the Taliban government of failing to secure the frontier and called for an apology and concrete measures; Afghan authorities had not commented.
- Officials described the clash as the third recent incident, noting earlier attacks in late November that killed five Chinese nationals and wounded others on Tajik territory.
- President Emomali Rahmon inaugurated four new border outposts and a tank training range and announced four additional crossings as part of stepped-up defenses along the 1,344 km frontier.