Uzbek officials say that Uzbekistan is nearing completion of a decision reached several years ago to liquidate landmines along its Tajik border, according to the new Russian-language Uzbekistan blog, ????? ????????? ????? (The New Word on Uzbekistan, literally the New Uzbek Word). This means that hopefully, Tajik border guards won’t face the same peril they do on the Afghan side.

The Uzbek official defended the placing of landmines in the area, arguing that they were necessary to keep out terrorists and religious extremists during the period when the Tajik government was unable to carry out this task themselves, saying that even though the mines were marked, they provided a psychological disincentive to extremists.

Responding to Tajik officials that said the mines ensured that refugees and other migrants were unable to return home, the Uzbek official emphasized that if migrant travel was legitimate and non-threatening, they could always easily pass through official waypoints, and that the Tajik side was essentially defending illegal border crossing for potential terrorists.

Finally, the Uzbek official pointed to the success of the minefield clearing operation in Kyrgyzstan as a model for the current Tajik-Uzbek border initiative. The landmines are a sore subject for both the Tajik and the Uzbek governments.