Deputy Prime Minister Azim Ibrohim has been appointed to head the republic commission for organization of the autumn conscription campaign.

“On September 20, Azim Ibrohim held the first meeting of the mentioned commission,” Colonel Faridoun Mahmadalizoda, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense (MoD), told Asia-Plus in an interview.

According to him, the meeting participants included Major-General Khoushvakht Mehrovarov, who is the chief of the organization-and-mobilization department at the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Tajikistan, deputy heads of all regions, cities and districts who are in charge for organization of the conscription campaign, as well as senior representatives of law enforcement and public health agencies.

Speaking at the meeting, Azim Ibrohim pointed to the necessity of carrying out  qualitative medical examination of conscripts and not allowing human rights abuses and violations during the conscription campaign, Mahmadalizoda said.

The autumn conscription campaign will be launched in Tajikistan on October 1.  The draft affects able-bodied male citizens in the age bracket of 18 years old to 27 years old, who are not members of the armed forces reserve.  The same decree provides for the retirement from active duty of soldiers and sergeants whose service under conscription is over.

According to the Ministry of Defense (MoD), every year, some 15,000-16,000 young Tajik men are drafted into the country’s armed forces.  The two-month-long effort seeking to enlist young men aged 18-27 for the two-year compulsory military service takes place twice a year, in the spring and in the autumn.

Some sources say more than 600,000 young men in Tajikistan are eligible for military service, but some 150,000 of them have received draft deferments or are exempted from the military service and some 100,000 other conscript-age young Tajiks are outside the country in search of a living.

Young Tajiks can avoid or postpone military service if they are ill, studying at university, an only son, or if they have two children.

Tajikistan's armed forces consist of Land Forces, Mobile Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces, National Guard, and Security Forces (internal and border troops).