Over 1,000 Afghan soldiers fled into neighbouring Tajikistan on Monday to escape from clashes with the Taliban. Reports say that the Taliban mounted an aggressive offensive as NATO forces withdraw.
“They did not want to surrender. They had asked for reinforcements but their call was ignored,” said Abdul Basir, a soldier based with a battalion in Badakhshan province that had members flee over the border, AFP reports.
On July 2, the United States declared that it had handed over Bagram Air Base — the centre of its operations — to Afghan security forces.
Tajikistan’s national security committee told that 1,037 Afghan government troops had fled into their country.
“Taking into account the principle of good neighbourliness and adhering to the position of non-interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan, the military personnel of the Afghan government forces were allowed to enter Tajik territory,” said the statement published by Tajikistan’s state information agency.
