Tajik Border Guards Kill 3 Extremists from Jamaat Ansarullah

Tajik border guards have killed three attackers near the Afghan border who were identified as members of the extremist group Jamaat Ansarullah.

The confrontation occurred on December 24 near Border Post No. 5 “Bogh” in Khatlon province’s Shamsiddin-Shohin district, The Caspian Post reports via Tajik media.

According to Tajik authorities, two border officers and three armed assailants were killed in the gunfight. The attackers were reportedly led by Khoja Bashir Nourzai, known as “Padarkhond,” who is involved in drug trafficking and is close to the Taliban leadership. Security forces confiscated rifles, pistols, hand grenades, explosives, and other military equipment.

The Tajik State Committee for National Security accused the Taliban government of failing to secure the border and called on it to apologize and take effective measures to ensure stability. The Taliban has not yet commented officially.

Earlier attacks from Afghanistan in November killed five Chinese nationals and injured five others in Tajik border regions. President Emomali Rahmon condemned the attacks and instructed security forces to strengthen border protection.

Jamaat Ansarullah, also known as the Society of Allah’s Soldiers, was founded in 2010 by Amriddin Tabarov, a former Tajik civil war commander. The group, initially formed by opposition fighters rejecting the 1997 peace agreement, has carried out suicide attacks and extremist propaganda campaigns. It was officially banned as an extremist organization by Tajikistan’s Supreme Court in 2012.