Members of special operations unit practice detaining militants during the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) military exercise outside Almaty, Kazakhstan May 22, 2018. (REUTERS PHOTO)
MOSCOW, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Russia and its Central Asian allies will conduct joint military drills in Tajikistan near the Afghan border in late October, TASS news agency reported Wednesday, citing a Russian military statement.
The details of the upcoming Rubezh-2018 (Boundary-2018) drills are being coordinated in Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan, by representatives of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Russian Central Military District and delegations from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, it said.
The drills will be conducted in the Harbmaydon Mountain range 15 km from the Tajik-Afghan border.
Tajikistan and Afghanistan share about 1,300 km of border. Moscow has repeatedly voiced its concern that terrorists could enter Central Asian countries from Afghanistan.
The Rubezh drills are held every two years. The Rubezh-2016 exercises were held in Kyrgyzstan.
The CSTO, formed in 1992, consists of six members, namely, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan, and two observers, Afghanistan and Serbia.