(Read full article on rferl.org)

The U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe on September 1 announced plans to build a border-guard facility on the Tajik-Afghan-Uzbek border, where tensions have risen in recent months as Taliban fighters captured Afghan regions that abut Central Asia’s post-Soviet republics.

The embassy said a groundbreaking ceremony to launch the project is scheduled for “early 2022.”

“The new border detachment will replace the old one in Shahritus and allow the Border Service to deploy troops to the border areas as soon as possible in response to threats,” it said in a statement.

The facility will house an unspecified number of border guards and their families.

Central Asians states bordering Afghanistan are concerned about security threats emanating from the war-torn country and the potential for tens of thousands of refugees to pour over the border to avoid life under the fundamentalist Taliban.

The United States and Russia have each responded to Taliban gains with increased diplomatic outreach among Tajikistan and its neighbors.