Politics
Tajik forces ‘kill three terrorists’ after border infiltration from Afghanistan
- Militants crossed from Afghanistan, resisted orders.
- Weapons, explosives, recovered from attackers.
- Two Tajik border personnel also killed in operation.
Tajik security forces killed three armed militants who crossed into the country from Afghanistan and refused to lay down their weapons.
In a statement, Tajikistan’s Press Centre of the Border Troops of the State Committee for National Security said that the incident took place on December 23.
“They intended to carry out an armed attack on one of the border outposts of the Border Troops of the State Committee for National Security of the Republic of Tajikistan,” it added.
Tajik security forces swiftly identified the militants’ location and ordered them to surrender. However, they offered armed resistance, leading the forces to kill all three militants in a combat operation, read the statement.
Tajik forces also recovered firearms, including an M-16 rifle, a Kalashnikov assault rifle and three foreign-made pistols equipped with suppressors, ten hand grenades, one night-vision device, explosives, and other military equipment, from the killed militants.
During the fire exchange, two Border Troops personnel were also killed.
The Press Centre of the Border Troops noted that it was the third incident involving an armed attack following illegal border-crossing from Afghanistan into Tajikistan over the past month.
The Central Asian country assailed the Afghan Taliban regime’s failure to prevent terrorist outfits from using its soil for launching terrorist attacks into its neighbouring countries.
The incident comes weeks after five Chinese nationals were killed and five more injured in attacks launched from Afghanistan.
Tajik authorities and China’s embassy in the country said that the Chinese citizens were targeted in armed and drone attacks.
Following the deadly attacks, China’s embassy in Dushanbe, the capital, advised Chinese companies and personnel to urgently evacuate the border area.
Pakistan has repeatedly invited global attention to increased terrorist safe havens in Afghanistan since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021.
Islamabad has lost nearly 1,200 lives this year alone in terrorism linked to networks based in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, said earlier this month.
Pak-Afghan tensions
The issue of cross-border terrorism escalated after the Afghan Taliban and militants launched unprovoked attacks against Pakistan’s border posts on the night between October 11 and 12.
The clashes led to the killing of over 200 Taliban and affiliated militants, while 23 Pakistani soldiers laid down their lives defending the motherland.
Pakistan also conducted “precision strikes” deep inside Afghanistan, targeting terrorist safe havens in Kandahar province and Kabul.
A temporary 48-hour ceasefire was announced on October 15 at Afghanistan’s request, with the two sides eventually reaching an official ceasefire agreement on October 19 in Qatar in talks mediated by Doha and Turkiye.
Under the deal, terrorism from Afghanistan on Pakistani soil should have stopped immediately, with Islamabad and Kabul agreeing to establish mechanisms to consolidate lasting peace and stability between the two countries.
However, the following talks in Turkiye collapsed after Islamabad refused to accept the Afghan Taliban delegation’s “illogical” arguments and refusal to address Islamabad’s concerns regarding cross-border terrorism.
However, mediators persuaded Pakistan to give the talks another chance, which ultimately resulted in an agreement to uphold the ceasefire.
- Contract supports APG-66 and APG-68 radar systems.
- Work to be completed by March 2036.
- Includes multiple allies under foreign military sales plan.
The United States Air Force has contracted Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. in a $488 million deal to provide engineering and technical support for F-16 radar systems under its Foreign Military Sales programme, with Pakistan among the beneficiary countries.
According to an official award notice issued by the US Department of War, the firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract covers support for F-16 System Programme Office Foreign Military Sales (FMS) as well as Air Force and Navy requirements.
The contract includes engineering and technical support for APG-66 and APG-68 radar systems. The work will be carried out at Linthicum Heights, Maryland, and is expected to be completed by March 31, 2036.
The contract involves foreign military sales to multiple countries, including Bahrain, Belgium, Chile, Denmark, Egypt, Greece, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Korea, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Thailand and Türkiye.
The US Air Force said the contract was awarded on a sole-source basis. Fiscal 2026 non-appropriated, Air Force and Navy funds amounting to $2,644,922 have been obligated at the time of the award.
The Air Force Lifecycle Management Centre at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting authority for the agreement, which was awarded on April 27, 2026.
The development comes months after the United States, in December 2025, approved the sale of advanced technology and support services worth $686 million for Pakistan’s F-16 fighter aircraft fleet.
According to a letter from the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) to Congress dated December 8, the package covers Link-16 data link systems, cryptographic gear, avionics upgrades, training, and wide-ranging logistical support.
The DSCA says the decision aligns with Washington’s broader strategic aims, stating the sale “will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by allowing Pakistan to retain interoperability with US and partner forces in ongoing counterterrorism efforts and in preparation for future contingency operations.”
The letter notes that the upgrades are intended to modernise Pakistan’s Block-52 and Mid-Life Upgrade F-16s and address operational safety requirements. According to the letter, the sale will “maintain Pakistan’s capability to meet current and future threats by updating and refurbishing its Block-52 and Mid Life Upgrade F-16 fleet.”
- US approves of sales to Qatar, UAE, Kuwait and Israel.
- US govt says emergency exists to waive congressional review.
- Washington faces scrutiny for military ties with Kuwait, UAE, Qatar.
US President Donald Trump’s administration has bypassed congressional review to approve military sales totaling over $8.6 billion to Middle Eastern allies Israel, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
The State Department announcements on Friday came as the US and Israel’s war against Iran marked nine weeks since its start and more than three weeks since a fragile ceasefire came into effect.
The State Department said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined that an emergency existed that required immediate sales to those countries and waived the congressional review requirements for the sales.
The announcements included approving military sales to Qatar of Patriot air and missile defence replenishment services costing $4.01 billion and of Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems (APKWS) costing $992.4 million.
The principal contractor in the APKWS sales to Qatar, Israel and the UAE was BAE Systems, the State Department said.
RTX and Lockheed Martin were the principal contractors in the integrated battle command system sale to Kuwait and in the Patriot air and missile defense replenishment sale to Qatar, the State Department added.
Northrop Grumman was also a principal contractor in the Kuwaiti sale.
Over the years, Washington has faced scrutiny for military ties with Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar over those countries’ human rights track records that rights advocates say involve restrictions on and reported abuses of minorities, journalists, voices of dissent, the LGBT community and labourers.
Those nations have denied supporting or engaging in domestic rights abuses.
US support for Israel has also come under scrutiny from rights experts, particularly over Israel’s assault on Gaza that has killed tens of thousands, caused a hunger crisis and led to assessments of genocide from scholars and a UN inquiry.
Israel calls its actions self-defence after Hamas-led fighters killed 1,200 people in an October 2023 attack.
Washington has maintained support for its allies.
- Pentagon announced withdrawal of 5,000 troops.
- Transatlantic tensions simmer over Iran, tariffs.
- Germany on right track with Bundeswehr expansion: minister.
BERLIN: A planned drawdown of US troops from Germany should spur Europeans to strengthen their own defences further, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Saturday, following the latest salvo from Washington against transatlantic ties.
The Pentagon announced on Friday that the United States would withdraw 5,000 soldiers from Germany, its largest European base, as a rift over the Iran war and tariff tensions place further strain on relations between the US and Europe.
Pistorius said the move was expected.
Trump had threatened a drawdown in forces earlier this week after sparring with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has questioned Washington’s strategy in the Middle East.
Germany boosting troops, military infrastructure
Pistorius said the partial withdrawal would affect a current US presence of almost 40,000 soldiers stationed in Germany. Other estimates put the active-duty troop presence at 35,000.
“We Europeans must take on more responsibility for our own security,” Pistorius said, adding, “Germany is on the right track” by expanding its armed forces, speeding up military procurement and building infrastructure.
Germany wants to boost the number of active-duty Bundeswehr soldiers from a current 185,000 to 260,000, though critics of the defence minister have called for more in response to a widely perceived growing threat from Russia.
Nato members have pledged to take on more responsibility for their own defence but with tight budgets and vast gaps in military capability it will take years for the region to meet its own security needs.
Long-range fire battalion cancelled
The US military presence in Germany, which began as an occupation force after World War Two, peaked during the 1960s when hundreds of thousands of American military personnel were stationed there to counter the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
The US presence includes the giant Ramstein airbase and Landstuhl hospital, both of which have been used by the US to support its war in Iran, as well as previous conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Pentagon decision means one full brigade will leave Germany and a long-range fires battalion that was due to be deployed later this year will be cancelled.
The loss of the long-range fires will be a particular blow to Berlin, as it had been due to form a significant extra element of deterrence against Russia while Europeans developed such long-range missiles themselves.
US awards $488m F-16 radar support contract for Pakistan, other countries
US bypasses congressional review for military sales of $8.6bn to Middle East allies
Germany urges stronger European defence after US reduces troops
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