ALBAWABA- Three Chinese workers were killed early Tuesday in a cross-border drone and gunfire attack on a construction camp in Tajikistan’s southern Khatlon region, the Tajik Foreign Ministry confirmed Thursday, in one of the most serious security incidents along the Tajik-Afghan frontier in recent years.
The assault occurred at a camp operated by LLC Shohin SM in Shamsiddin Shohin district, near the Istiqlol border guard post.
Attackers launched a grenade-laden drone and opened fire, killing the three workers on site. No additional injuries were reported, and no group has claimed responsibility.
Tajikistan condemned the strike as “disruptive actions by criminal groups” based in Afghanistan and urged the Taliban authorities to take “effective measures” to secure the shared 1,350-kilometer border.
Dushanbe stressed that despite its efforts to promote cross-border stability, through electricity exports, trade markets, and infrastructure links, security threats have persisted since the Taliban seized power in 2021.
The attack mirrors a November 2024 cross-border raid in the nearby Zarbuzi Gorge that killed one Chinese worker and wounded four others, incidents analysts attribute to Islamic State Khorasan (ISKP) cells and smuggling networks exploiting the porous Panj River corridor.
China, whose companies are expanding mining and infrastructure projects in Tajikistan’s border provinces, has not yet issued an official response.
