Chinese urged to flee Tajikistan border after drone attack from Afghanistan kills three

• Victims worked for LLC Shahin SM, the company targeted in assault.
• Beijing asks Tajiks to conduct full investigation as Kabul pledges cooperation.
• Neither side has named attackers or their group(s) since strike.

China’s embassy in Dushanbe has urged its citizens to evacuate areas near Tajikistan’s border with Afghanistan after three Chinese nationals were killed in an armed attack earlier this week.

The embassy said on Friday that one other Chinese citizen was injured in the assault, which struck the southwestern province of Khatlon on Wednesday.

 It did not identify the assailants but stated that Beijing had called on Tajik authorities to conduct a thorough investigation.

Tajikistan’s foreign ministry said the three victims were employees of LLC Shahin SM, adding that the attack was launched from Afghanistan using an unmanned aerial vehicle armed with grenades.

Afghanistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement that those behind the attack sought to sow “chaos, instability and distrust in the region,” without naming the group responsible. 

It said Kabul had made an initial assessment and would cooperate with Tajikistan on the probe.

Militants are active in the mountainous border region, which spans around 1,350 kilometres (840 miles) between the two countries.

Muslim-majority Tajikistan, one of the poorest countries in the former Soviet Union, has been concerned about possible flare-ups in extremism since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

President Emomali Rakhmon, in power since 1992, is openly critical of the Taliban, and urged the group to respect the rights of ethnic Tajiks, estimated to make up around a quarter of Afghanistan´s 40-million population.

At the same time, Tajikistan has cautiously engaged in some areas, including through diplomatic meetings, the opening of markets in border towns and supplying electricity.

Tajikistan's foreign ministry said Thursday, "criminal groups located in the neighbouring country (Afghanistan) continue to commit acts aimed at destabilising the situation in the border regions."

Several Chinese companies operate in Tajikistan, particularly in mining and natural resources, often located in the mountainous border areas.

One Chinese worker was killed last year in a similar attack near the Afghan border.

Attacks on Pakistan from Afghan soil

Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in terrorism since 2021, the year that the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, and despite Islamabad’s repeated requests, the regime has yet to rein in terrorists using its soil for cross-border terrorism.

More recently, banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Noor Wali Mehsud plotted the Islamabad suicide attack, which killed 12, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar confirmed earlier today, while the security forces have also gunned down several terrorists, who were Afghan nationals.

The ties between the neighbours, moreover, have strained further since October, when the two sides engaged in clashes. 

Taliban forces, along with TTP militants, attacked Pakistani posts, martyring nearly two dozen soldiers, following which Pakistan launched major attacks against Afghanistan.

A ceasefire was eventually reached in Doha with the help of friendly nations, but negotiations ended without a long-term deal after Kabul did not provide a written commitment to take action against militants sought by Islamabad.