A Tajik or Russian aircraft bombed a Taliban-controlled border area in Afghanistan’s northeastern Takhar province, killing eight militants and wounding six. Afghan officials claimed on August 27.

Both Tajik and Russian officials denied any involvement in the air strike, said to have occurred on August 26. Tajikistan has a small number of planes and helicopters in its armed forces while Russia maintains a sizeable military contingent in the ex-Soviet country.

The mysterious incident supposedly took place following a clash between Taliban militants and Tajik border guards near the Darqad district of Takhar Province. Mohammad Jawid Hejri, the provincial governor’s spokesman, confirmed the incident but said the shootout took place between drug smugglers and Tajik border guards—he described the aircraft as either Russian or Tajik. Two border guards were killed in the clash.

Also on August 26, two loggers were reportedly killed and one was wounded in a shooting along the Tajik-Afghan border. The vehicle of the three people was targeted from across the border, a Fakhor district official told RFE/RL. The car was hit by mortar fire, according to Akhbor news website.

Such attacks, though not uncommon along the Afghan-Tajik border, have gained sharper focus since the recent IS-claimed killing of four foreign cyclists, including two US citizens, hit international headlines this month.

"We are looking into the incident, as Taliban fighters have no permission to clash with neighbouring countries," Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman said after confirming the incident.

Security around the Tokhtar region has reportedly been deteriorating in recent months.

Tajikistan shares a 1,400-kilometre border with Afghanistan, where weapons, drug-smuggling and contraband tend to be rife.

Approximately 7,000 Taliban fighters are believed to be scattered along the border, according to the Tajik Border Guard Service.

The Tajik armed forces conducted a joint training exercise on the Tajik-Afghan border on July 17-21 alongside forces from Russia’s 201st military base.

Afghanistan’s close proximity to Tajikistan is a regional concern for Russia, China and the US as there is always a risk of terrorist activities spilling over into the country. The majority-Muslim Tajikistan has by some estimates lost over 1,200 of its citizens to Islamic State recruitment.

Russia and its Central Asian allies are set to conduct joint military drills along part of the Tajik-Afghan border again in October.

The country’s struggling economy and stifling tenure of long-time strongman President Emomali Rahmon is playing into the hands of radical Islamic groups by making parts of traditionally Islamic Tajik society vulnerable to the propaganda of radical Islamic groups like IS.