Woman killed in Tajikistan in cross-border gunfire from Afghanistan
Tajikistan has lodged a formal protest with the Taliban over what it described as a violation of its airspace and territorial integrity during fighting across the border in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province, which left a 21-year-old woman dead and damaged residential properties.
Tajikistan’s Foreign Ministry said Dushanbe had sent a protest note to the Taliban and demanded a serious investigation into the incident.
It called on the Taliban administration to respect Tajikistan’s territorial integrity and border sovereignty and take effective measures to prevent similar incidents.
According to the ministry’s press office, Tajikistan’s airspace was violated and residential homes were damaged during armed clashes inside Afghanistan.
The ministry said gunfire from Afghan territory also killed a young woman in Tajikistan’s border district of Darvoz.
Tajik authorities said the country’s security and military agencies had launched a formal investigation into the incident.
Reports said the shooting occurred on Thursday afternoon in Darvoz, which lies across the border from Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province.
The victim, 21-year-old Yatimzoda Jasmina, was inside her home when a bullet entered through a window and struck her.
She was killed in the incident and is survived by a young child.
Tajik President Emomali Rahmon on Friday morning spoke by telephone with the head of Darvoz district and expressed his condolences and sympathy to the woman’s family.
Rahmon ordered authorities to provide the family with necessary financial and other support and instructed officials to monitor the education and welfare of her young child.
The incident occurred amid intense fighting between Taliban forces and armed men loyal to dissident commander Juma Khan Fateh in Nusay district of Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province, directly across the border from Tajikistan’s Darvoz district.
Nusay has witnessed heavy fighting in recent days, including the use of helicopters and intensive attacks, raising concerns about the impact of the clashes on communities along the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border.
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