AFP, Dushanbe
Russia will bolster Central Asian ally Tajikistan's military with weapons, equipment and training amid a "deteriorating" situation in neighbouring Afghanistan, Moscow's defence minister said on Wednesday during a visit to the country.
Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will hold joint military drills next week near Tajikistan's border with Afghanistan, where the Taleban has made huge military gains and claims to control 90 per cent of the country's borders.
Speaking in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe where he met his counterpart Sherali Mirzo, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow had organised additional supplies of weaponry and equipment to bolster Tajikistan's army.
"We continue to train qualified Tajik military personnel. We prepare them both at our military universities and at the 201st Russian military base," Mr Shoigu said, referring to Moscow's base in the country.
