Two Tajik servicemen and fifteen IS militants reportedly killed in attack on frontier post in Tajikistan

A statement released by the Interior Ministry says an armed group numbering twenty people in masks attacked the “Ishqobod” frontier post of the “Sultonobod” border unit on the border with Uzbekistan in Roudaki district, some 60 kilometers southwest of Dushanbe, at 3:23 am of November 6.

During the attack, the unidentified assailants reportedly captured five Kalashnikov assault rifles, according to a statement released by the State Committee for National Security (SCNS).  A border guard and a police officer were reportedly killed in the fighting.

The national news agency Khovar says the attackers came from Qalai Zol district of Afghanistan’s Kunduz province, crossing the border in Qubodiyon district of Khatlon province on November 3.  

As a result of an operation carried out by Tajik power-wielding structures, fifteen attackers were killed, while the remaining five attackers were captured, the SCNS said.  According to unconfirmed reports, at least one of the assailants was a woman.    

The Interior Ministry reported that four vehicles of the attack group were also destroyed.

The SCNS Main Border Guard Directorate press center says the assailants are members of the Islamic State (IS) terror group.    

The incident took place on Tajikistan's Constitution Day, a national holiday, and as President Emomali Rahmon was on a working trip to Europe until November 12.