The Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) Programme Office in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, delivered four video surveillance cameras to the Tajik border service for use on the country’s Panj district border with Afghanistan.
The video equipment is part of Phase 3 of a European Union-funded project to stabilize Tajikistan’s southern border with Afghanistan. Col. Gen. Rajabali Rahmonali, commander of the Border Troops of the State Committee for National Security, emphasized the importance of the EU’s aid in strengthening the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border and border security throughout the region, and called for expansion of the program.
Delivered in July 2025, the remote-controlled video equipment allows the Border Troops to monitor difficult terrain in all weather conditions, enabling rapid response to developing situations. It recently demonstrated its value when a fisherman in distress on the Panj River was rescued with the help of video monitoring.
In addition to advanced technology, the EU-funded project also provides specialized training for border service members. In 2009, the OSCE established the Border Management Staff College (BMSC) in Dushanbe “to enhance the knowledge of senior border security and management officials while promoting greater cooperation and exchange of information.”
The BMSC is an OSCE Centre of Excellence and has conducted more than 100 specialized courses and events for more than 2,200 officials from border guards, border police, customs, drug control and other agencies from OSCE member and partner states.
In May 2025, Tajik Border Troops officers completed an OSCE training course in Khorog, in the country’s Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region. The Tactical Field Capacity Building course, which focused on tactical response, survival skills, topography and first aid, was conducted by Tajik instructors who graduated from an earlier phase of training. Source: OSCE