[The Telegraph] Russia may spearhead a joint task-force of post-Soviet states to secure the borders in Central Asia amid fears of Taliban "spillover" from Afghanistan.Vladimir Putin has proposed setting up a Nato-style joint task force of post-Soviet states to secure the borders of Central Asia amid fears of Taliban "spillover" from Afghanistan.
A fresh sign of the Russian president's new military assertiveness, the deployment raises the possibility of Russian and allied troops being deployed along Tajikistan's 800-mile border with Afghanistan, and Moscow tightening its influence of governments in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
It comes a day after Barack Obama said American troops would stay in Afghanistan for at least two more years -- itself a tacit admission that the Afghan government is unable to tackle the threat of a resurgent Taliban alone.
"The situation there [in Afghanistan] is genuinely close to critical," Mr Putin told a summit of former Soviet states in Burabay, Kazakhstan. "Terrorists of different stripes are gaining more influence and do not hide their plans for further expansion. One of their aims is the break into the Central Asian region."