DUSHANBE, December 7, Asia-Plus - The autumn conscription campaign ended in Tajikistan and the target was fulfilled, Major-General Akbar Qayumov, the head of the organizational and mobile department of the Ministry of Defense (MoD), told Asia-Plus.  

According to him, Gorno Badakhshan was leader of the campaign, fulfilling the target ahead of schedule.  

“It is to be noted that the military recruitment offices have received few complaints about violation of the conscription campaign, except isolated cases that are currently considered by the ministry,” the general said.  

Qayumov noted that some 600,000 Tajiks of call-up age are currenlty outside the republic, including those seeking better employment opportunities.  “This problem should be solved in cooperation with the interior bodies,” the MoD official said.

Asked about quality of contingent drafted into the army, Qayumov said “Our resources allow carrying out proper selection..”  At the same time, he noted that some 40 percent of young men of call-up age in the country have health problems.

Qayumov said that in all, some 7,000 conscripts had been drafted into the army during the autumn conscription campaign.  We will recall that in October, Qayumov said in an interview with Asia-Plus that during this year’s spring conscription campaign 8,000 young men had been conscripted.      

The autumn conscription campaign was launched on October 1 and lasted through November.  The draft affected able-bodied male citizens in the age bracket of 18 years old to 27 years old, who are not members of the armed forces reserve.