By RFE/RL’s Tajik Service September 17, 2021 Leaders of the Russia- and China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) have urged the world to unfreeze Afghanistan’s assets and boost assistance to the war-torn nation as it teeters on the brink of crisis following the Taliban’s return to power last month. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart,
Press TV September 15, 2021 Tajikistan has summoned the US ambassador over the offensive remarks President Joe Biden made about Tajik people during his recent visit to Pennsylvania. The Central Asian country took offense to a jibe Biden used to deflect criticism from his handling of the chaotic US withdrawal from neighboring Afghanistan. In a statement, Tajikistan’s
Bruce Pannier Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 13, 2021 The surprising speed with which the Taliban took control over most of Afghanistan after foreign forces began withdrawing from the country left Afghanistan’s neighbors in a difficult predicament. All of them had considered the possibility the militant group could seize power, but suddenly they needed to
By RFE/RL’s Tajik Service September 13, 2021 DUSHANBE — Tajik authorities say they have accepted around 100 Afghan nationals from a group of more than 200 people, including many women and children, who crossed the border overnight to flee Afghanistan because of the Taliban’s takeover of the country. Multiple sources in the local government in Tajikistan’s
VOA News September 12, 2021 Some Afghan pilots who have been held in Uzbekistan for about a month began leaving Sunday for the United Arab Emirate, Reuters reported. A U.S.-trained Afghan pilot told Reuters that one group would depart Uzbekistan on Sunday for the UAE under a U.S.-brokered deal, despite Taliban demands that they return
By RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service September 10, 2021 NUR-SULTAN — Kazakhstan says it has evacuated a group of ethnic-Kazakh Afghan nationals from Kabul to the Central Asian nation as countries continue to try and move people out of the war-torn country following the Taliban’s seizure of power. The Kazakh Foreign Ministry said a military cargo plane landed late on
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 2, 2021 DUSHANBE — Tajikistan has awarded posthumously two former Afghan political figures, Ahmad Shah Masud and Burhanuddin Rabbani, with the country’s highest honor, the Order of Ismoili Somoni. Tajik President Emomali Rahmon signed the decree awarding the two men the honor on September 2. According to the decree, Masud and Rabbani
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 2, 2021 Tajik Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimzoda says his country is unable to host many refugees from neighboring Afghanistan, as thousands look to flee after Taliban militants took control of the country. Rahimzoda cited a lack of infrastructure to host Afghan refugees as the reason and called on international organizations,
By RFE/RL’s Tajik Service August 25, 2021 DUSHANBE — Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has expressed his vision of the future government of Afghanistan under the Taliban’s control, saying that Dushanbe wants to see all ethnic groups in the country represented in the next cabinet. During talks with visiting Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Dushanbe
Bruce Pannier Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 24, 2021 There has been a good deal of speculation about how the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan and the dramatic change of power there will affect Central Asia’s relations with the big powers. Some say Russia’s presence in the region will be strengthened, or perhaps China’s,