DUSHSANBE -- Tajikistan says China plans to finance and build several outposts for Tajik border guards along the Tajik-Afghan border.
A Tajik government decree published on September 26 said the move would bolster Tajik security. The decree said the government instructed the State National Security Committee to sign an agreement with China to provide for the construction of 11 outposts of various sizes, as well as a training center for border guards.
The 1,345-kilometer Tajik-Afghan border is a major concern for Dushanbe, as Afghan drug smugglers regularly clash with Tajik border guards, and Afghan Taliban militants increase their activities along the border.
China, which according to official statistics sells goods worth $2.5 billion a year to Tajikistan, built one outpost on the Tajik-Afghan border, its first one, earlier this year.
With reporting by Reuters
msh/rc
