Russian, Tajik troops hold joint drills near Afghan border

The exercises at the Momirak firing range about 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of the Afghan border involved armoured vehicles and helicopter gunships

Russian and Tajik troops conducted joint drills on Friday near Tajikistan’s border with Afghanistan, as part of efforts to prepare for possible security threats issuing from Afghanistan.

The exercises at the Momirak firing range about 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of the Afghan border involved armoured vehicles and helicopter gunships.

It was part of weeklong war games that brought together about 5,000 troops and over 700 armoured vehicles from Russia, Tajikistan and several other ex-Soviet nations, which are members of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, a Moscow-dominated security pact.