DUSHANBE, March 26, 2015, Asia-Plus -- Conducted by officers from the Russian military base deployed in Tajikistan, two-month courses on training of junior commanders for the Tajik national army have been completed this month, according to the Ministry of Defense of Tajikistan (MoD).

An official source at a MoD says the practical exercises for junior specialists (drivers and gunlayers) have been conducted at the Lohour, Sombuli and Momirak training grounds.

According to him, more than 2020 Tajik junior commanders took the training course.

The Russian military base deployed in Tajikistan is Russia''s largest non-naval military facility outside the country.  It was officially opened in Tajikistan in 2004 under a previous agreement, which was signed in 1993, and hosts Russia’s largest military contingent deployed abroad.

A total of some 7,000 Russian troops are stationed at three military facilities collectively known as the 201st military base - in Dushanbe, Qurghon Teppa, some 100 kilometers from Dushanbe, and Kulob, about 200 kilometers southwest of Dushanbe.