CSTO to hold exercises near the Afghan border

CSTO forces in Tajikistan will practice “eliminating militants” who have invaded from outside.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization stated that the exercise will take place at the Harbmaidon training ground.

Representatives of the defense ministries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan and officers from the CSTO Joint Staff will attend the event.

They will gather to develop common approaches to organizing command and control in preparation for combat operations, improve officials’ skills, and coordinate command during the upcoming Rubezh-2024 exercise.

On October 16, a staff training will take place, during which command and staff officers will practice planning and preparing for combat operations.

The CSTO includes six former USSR countries: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.

At the same time, the militaries of Armenia and Belarus will not participate in the exercises in Tajikistan.

In late August, it was announced that the Armenian authorities decided to freeze their participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

Earlier, Armenia had already taken certain steps that demonstrate its desire to leave this organization, which, according to Pashinyan, has only worsened relations with Azerbaijan.

Earlier, Pashinyan claimed that the CSTO knows about at least two countries that were involved in “preparing a war against us.”

In 2022, two CSTO member states, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, clashed on the border.

Tajikistan’s border with Kyrgyzstan is about 950 kilometers long, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, dozens of disputed areas remained on it.