REUTERS - Russia wants to
expand its air force deployment to Tajikistan and is in talks with Dushanbe for
joint use of an air base in the former Soviet republic, the
Russian ambassador
to Dushanbe said on Tuesday.
Russia already has
an infantry base near Dushanbe with up to 7,000 troops stationed there and last
year deployed four attack and transport helicopters to a nearby Ayni air base.
Ambassador Igor
Lyakin-Frolov told reporters the Russian and Tajik governments were in talks
over an agreement that would allow Russia joint use of the Ayni base and to
expand its presence there.
Tajikistan, which
borders Afghanistan, is seen by Russia and the West as a possible conduit for
Islamist militants. The Ferghana Valley, a fertile and densely populated strip
of land that straddles Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, is considered to
be the heart of Islamist militancy in Central Asia, whose main target is
Russia.
Moscow last year
launched a campaign of air strikes in Syria to help President Bashar al-Assad
take on various rebel groups as well as the Islamic State militant group.
In November Russia's
security service said it had arrested 10 people from Central Asia with links to
Islamic State who planned to carry out attacks with firearms and explosives in
Moscow and St Petersburg.
REUTERS
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