MOSCOW, September 8 (RIA Novosti) - The situation on the Tajik-Afghani border has deteriorated since Russian border guards withdrew from the region, a representative of the Russian president said Thursday.
Anatoly Safonov, Vladimir Putin's special representative for international cooperation in the fight against terrorism and international organized crime, told a Moscow news conference: "The situation is not simply bad - it is very bad."
Safonov said a security belt around Afghanistan had to be set up to prevent Afghan drugs from passing through Tajikistan to Russia and Europe.
