DUSHANBE, October 9, 2015, Asia-Plus -- This year, instructors from Russian military base deployed in Tajikistan have reportedly trained more than 1,000 junior specialists for the Tajik armed forces.

According to the Russian Central Military District’s official website, practical exercises for Tajik servicemen on various military disciplines (drivers, gunlayers, combat engineers, etc) have been conducted at the Lohour, Sombuli and Momirak training grounds.

We will recall that Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu noted here on June 4 during a meeting with his Tajik counterpart Sherali Mirzo that security in Central Asia largely depends on concerted action by the armed forces of Russia and Tajikistan.  Therefore, the Russian defense minister pointed to the necessity of paying special attention to “enhancing the combat capabilities of Tajikistan’s armed forces and the Russian military base deployed in Tajikistan.”

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.