DUSHANBE, February 4, 2015, Asia-Plus -- Tajik border troops have reportedly been put on high alert as armed militants have been concentrated in Afghan areas bordering Tajikistan.

An official source at the Main Border Guard Directorate of the State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan says the order on strengthening control along the Tajik-Afghan border has been signed recently.

“The Afghan authorities are currently carrying out special operations on annihilating militants numbering 500-1,000 in Imam Sahib and Dashti Archi areas,” the source said.

We will recall that speaking to journalists in Dushanbe, Tajik Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimzoda on January 16 confirmed information about concentration of armed militants in the Afghan areas near the Tajik border.

According to him, militants that have concentrated in Afghan areas bordering Tajikistan are members of various terrorist groups, including Taliban and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).

“In this connection, Tajikistan is taking measures to strengthen its common border with Afghanistan,” the minister said, noting that the country’s power-wielding structures have been put on intensified service regime.

According to him, Tajikistan’s relevant agencies are in constant contact with Afghan defense and law enforcement authorities.

“We have reached an agreement on opening Tajik Interior Ministry’s representative office in Afghanistan that will coordinate efforts of the law enforcement authorities of the two countries in combating organized crime, extremism, terrorism and trafficking in drugs and weapons,” the minister noted.