Afghan soldiers flown home from Tajikistan after fleeing across border

About 600 Afghan security force members who crossed the border into Tajikistan while retreating from Taliban fighters last week have been flown home on four flights since late Tuesday.

RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reported Wednesday that the last flight carrying 130 Afghan servicemen left the Kulob airport on Wednesday morning.

Tajik authorities have not said how many Afghan servicemen remain in Tajikistan.

Kulob airport officials said they were not authorized to comment on the transfer of Afghan forces.

A Tajik security source told Reuters that about 300 more soldiers are set to return in the next few days.

Hundreds of Afghan soldiers crossed into Tajikistan over the weekend as Taliban advanced on border crossings in the northern province.

A doctor told RFE/RL’s Tajik Service that at least three Afghan soldiers seriously injured in the fighting in Afghanistan remain in a hospital in the Jaihun district of Tajikistan.

Meanwhile, a source in the Tajik Defense Ministry said a group of Russian military advisers have arrived in Tajikistan from Russia and are assessing the situation at the Tajik-Afghan border.

The developments in northern Afghanistan have worried bordering states, including Tajikistan, which has said it is mobilizing 20,000 men to reinforce its border.

Tajik authorities have also said they are preparing for a possible influx of refugees, RFE/RL reported.