Faridun Mahmadalizoda, a spokesman for the Tajik defence ministry, said that the military exercise will last from March 15-20 in the south of the country near the border with Afghanistan. Soldiers from the Russian military base in Tajikistan will take part in the war games, although the final number hasn’t yet been decided.

Both Russia and Tajikistan have warned of the increasing threat of the Taliban. Last year the Taliban briefly captured the town of Kunduz on the Afghan-Tajik border and this year there have been a number of reports of attacks on power lines running from Central Asia to Kabul. This is especially important as Central Asian states have committed to power and gas export projects to Pakistan and India which involve Afghanistan as a transit state.

And boosting the military is also a popular policy with ordinary Tajiks who worry about stability.

A 35 year-old accountant in Dushanbe said that Tajikistan should ensure stability at any price.

“The government wants to show the Taliban that we have an army, in case the terrorists want to cross the border,” he said, keeping his hands crossed on his chest.

A Dushanbe-based political analyst, who did not want to be named, told The Conway Bulletin’s correspondent in Dushanbe that Russia was pursuing a foreign policy in Central Asia based around boosting its military and playing up fears about renewed Taliban strength.

“The new exercises are first of all a signal to all superpowers that are interested in Central Asia about who exactly is the boss here,” he said.

“It’s also a signal to extremist groups, who have been thinking about moving across the (Afghan- Tajik) border onto the other side of the river in an act of war.”