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Tajikistan concerned over decision to withdraw anti-terrorist coalition forces from Afghanistan

RIA Novosti

13:33 03/12/2010 DUSHANBE, December 3 (RIA Novosti) - Tajikistan is concerned over the decision to gradually withdraw anti-terrorist coalition forces from Afghanistan in the coming years, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon said on Friday.

NATO has vowed to hand over responsibility for security in Afghanistan to the Afghans by the end of 2014.

"This decision made during the last NATO summit in Lisbon cannot but concern Tajikistan," Rahmon said.

He said when anti-terrorist forces are withdrawn, the Tajik government will have to increase spending to strengthen the border with Afghanistan, which in the current circumstances would be burdensome to the budget of Tajikistan.

Rahmon said that not only Tajikistan but all of Central Asia should be worried about the decision as it also concerns security from terrorism, extremism, illegal drugs and weapons trafficking and illegal migration in the Central Asian region, along with Russia and Europe.

Afghan drug production increased dramatically after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled the Taliban in 2001, and Russia has been one of the most affected countries, with heroin consumption rising steeply. An estimated 90% of heroin consumed in Russia is trafficked from Afghanistan via Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.