Tajikistan condemns Afghanistan drone strike killing three Chinese workers

ISLAMABAD: Tajikistan’s Foreign Ministry has condemned an armed drone attack launched from Afghanistan that killed three Chinese workers in the country’s southern Khatlon region, calling on Afghan authorities to take “effective measures” to secure the shared border.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the ministry said the assault occurred late Wednesday, when an unmanned aerial vehicle “equipped with grenades and firearms” struck the employees’ camp of LLC Shohin SM near the 1st Border Guard Post Istiqlol of the Yol Border Detachment.

“As a result of the attack, three employees of the LLC Shohin SM of Chinese citizenship were killed,” the statement said. Tajikistan described the incident as an operation conducted “from the territory of Afghanistan.”

The ministry noted that, despite Tajikistan’s “constant efforts… to maintain security and create an atmosphere of peace and stability” along the frontier, “disruptive actions by criminal groups located in the territory of Afghanistan still continue.”

Expressing “deep concerns,” the Tajik government said it “strongly condemns these acts of terrorist groups” and urged Afghanistan’s de facto authorities “to take effective measures to ensure stability and security on the state border between two neighboring countries.”