Russia says it has received weapons orders from Central Asian republics bordering Afghanistan
Moscow, Russia:
Russia said on Thursday it had received new orders for weapons and helicopters from the Central Asian republics bordering Afghanistan after the country was taken over by the Taliban.
The orders come as countries in the former Soviet region, where Moscow has military bases, have raised concerns about the terrorist group bringing it to power.
“We are already working on several orders from countries in the region for the supply of Russian helicopters, firearms and modern border protection systems,” Alexander Mikheev, the head of the RIA Novosti news agency, told the RIA news agency. Russian state arms exporter, Rosoboronexport.
While Russia remains cautiously optimistic about the new direction of Kabul, it has warned of militants entering neighboring countries as refugees.
Earlier this month, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan conducted joint military exercises with Russia near its borders with Afghanistan.
Exercises with members of the Organization of the Collective Security Treaty (CSTO), a Moscow-led military alliance, have also been scheduled for September 7-9.
The maneuvers will focus on “the destruction of illegal armed groups that have invaded the territory of a CSTO member state,” according to the alliance’s press service quoted by the Interfax news agency.
Although the Taliban have said it poses no threat to Central Asian countries, the region’s former Soviet republics have previously been the target of attacks attributed to allies of Afghan Islamists.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)