TERMEZ, UZBEKISTAN – AUGUST 05: Uzbekistan, Russia and Tajikistan on Thursday (Aug. 5) started a joint military excerise in the Khatlon region of Tajikistan near the Afghan border, said the press service for Russia’s Central Military District.
Holding the military exercise against the worsening security issues in Afghanistan, Russian and Uzbek armies will demonstrate their military command, manoeuvre, defense and attack skills through the exercise.
According to Interfax News Agency more than 2,500 personnel and around 500 weapons and pieces of military hardware will take part in the joint military drill.
Also 200 military vehicles and Su-25 warplanes and military helicopters at the Russian military base in Kyrgyzstan will join in the large-scale exercise.
Russia will reportedly deploy four Tu-22M3 supersonic strategic bombers during exercises near the Afghan border in Uzbekistan, according to Russian Defense Ministry.
The exercise will last until August 8.
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan administrations had decided to consolidate their borders with Afghanistan after the conflict between the government forces and the Taliban in the north of Afghanistan increased and the Taliban took over a significant part of the borders with Central Asian countries.
Afghanistan has 144 kilometers of borders with Uzbekistan and 1344 kilometers with Tajikistan. About 1500 Afghan soldiers and more than 500 Afghan citizens who fled the attacks of the Taliban recently took refuge in Tajikistan, and more than 100 Afghan soldiers took refuge in Uzbekistan.