Tajik-Afghan border security to be strengthened, military exercises to be held amid Afghan situation - Russian Security Council

MOSCOW. Sept 15 (Interfax) - The member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will be bolstering border security, holding military exercises, and combating terrorism, including in cyberspace, against the backdrop of the situation in Afghanistan, the Russian Security Council said following a meeting held in Dushanbe.

"Emphasis was placed on the situation surrounding Afghanistan. A package of measures countering threats to the security of the states of Central Asia, which might be caused by an escalation of the terrorist threat, was approved," Russian Security Council press secretary Yevgeny Anoshin said after a joint meeting of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers, the CSTO Council of Defense Ministers, and the CSTO Committee of Security Council Secretaries.

"There are plans, for instance, to strengthen the Tajik-Afghan border and to hold specialized command post exercises," Anoshin said.

In addition, the CSTO member states have agreed to step up interaction between their security services to identify and neutralize extremist and terrorist cells, as well as to develop cooperation in countering terrorist propaganda in cyberspace, he said.

The CSTO member states are also planning to hold a special anti-drug operation, Kanal (Channel), and an interstate operation against illegal immigration, Nelegal (Illegal), on the southern borders of the organization, Anoshin said.

There are also plans to step up interaction between the CSTO and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on issues pertaining to Afghanistan, he said.

In addition, the meeting in Dushanbe addressed the military-political situation in the CSTO collective security regions and the current activity and plans of the organization, Anoshin said.