Imangali Tasmagambetov, the Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), warned about the dangers of the spread of terrorism, arms trafficking, drugs, and extremism from Afghanistan to the region.

At the 16th Parliamentary Assembly of the organisation in Moscow, Tasmagambetov said that the southern borders of Central Asia are facing direct threat.

He emphasised on the need for coordinated efforts to address the challenges posed by the current situation in Afghanistan.

He also said that following the recent meeting of the CSTO’s Security Council, the heads of the member states agreed to accelerate and finalise the draft of intergovernmental targeted programme aimed at reinforcing sections of the Tajik-Afghan border.

In a part of his speech, Tasmagambetov said that CSTO is going to hold an important military exercise in 2024.

He declared equipping the CSTO forces with modern weapon and military equipment as one of the most important tasks of the organisation.

CSTO’s Secretary General explained that a total of seven exercises have been planned with the participation of Collective Rapid Reaction, Peacekeeping and Logistics forces.

According to him, these exercises are supposed to be held in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, as well as in Tajikistan.

Tasmagambetov emphasised that work will be strengthened to improve mechanisms to counter a wide range of transnational challenges and threats.

Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan are members of the CSTO. The organisation have held several joint military exercises near the Afghan border in the past two years.

In an interview with TASS news agency on Sunday, Semyon Grigoryev, Russia's ambassador to Tajikistan, said that the Taliban have not been able to secure the borders yet. He said that many times the extremists tried to infiltrate Tajikistan from Afghanistan in 2023.