The
situation in Kunduz, Afghanistan, might be even more alarming then what the
United States and its allies originally thought it would be. After the city
fell into the hands of the Taliban and the accidental bombardment from the US
Air Force of a hospital there; the region is more than ever under scrutiny. The
Taliban are now gathering their forces in the northern region of Afghanistan
and may consider going into Tajikistan, where they also have sympathizers. They
are feeling embolden by their victory in Kunduz and the newfound pressure put
on the US and Afghan army to intervene in the region.
This
situation has caught the attention of another permanent member of the United
Nation Security Council. Russia and President Vladimir Putin are feeling more
and more concerned about the situation in Afghanistan, and a possible spillover
to other countries of central Asia. Especially if they are members of the
Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO); this agreement between Russia,
Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan ensures that every
member will assist the others in case their territory is invaded or their
political stability is at risk. With Kunduz being just 70 kilometers away from
the Tajik border, Moscow does not want to take any chances and has deployed, as
of October 7, 2015, seven more combat helicopters to its base in Tajikistan
that also happens to be the most important one that the Kremlin has outside of
Russia.
Russian
officials seem to be ready to open a second front even though they are currently
involved in Syria in the fight against radical Islam. This news, even though it
has been partly overshadowed by what Russia is currently doing in Syria, seems
to indicate that President Putin wants to play a bigger and more decisive role in
the fight against religious extremism. An extremism that Russia actually
believes to be the direct result of poorly handled interventions the Middle
East and Central Asian regions by the United States and NATO.
The
new will to take military control of the situation, demonstrates one more time
that Russia is really determined to regain its status of international military
power and that it may not shy away from intervening further and further away
from its borders if their interests are at risk.
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