US-Tajik Regional Cooperation 22 exercise to conclude
The US-Tajikistan Regional Cooperation 22 exercise will conclude in Tajikistan today.
These exercises, sponsored by the United States Central Command, was conducted in two parts. The first part included a six-day command-post exercise involving troops from the U.S., Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan. The second part was a five-day bilateral field exercise involving U.S. and Tajik troops conducted at the Fakhrabad Training Center. This year, the exercises are aimed at enhancing regional security and stability, increasing cooperation and commitment to interdicting weapons of mass destruction, terrorist elements, and narcotics, as well as developing regional forces for international peace operations and information sharing. The annual exercise has been carried out since 2004.
Given the particular focus on counterterror and counternarcotics operations in this iteration of the exercise, Regional Cooperation 22 may lay the foundations for a combined task force involving all the participating nations. This would alleviate the region’s concerns regarding Taliban activities following their recapture of Afghanistan in 2021. Further cooperation in the next decade may result in a semi-permanent U.S. military presence in Central Asia to compensate for the loss of the operating bases in Afghanistan.
