Pakistan’s Foreign Office has strongly condemned the attack in Tajikistan that killed three Chinese workers, saying the use of armed drones in the incident highlights “the seriousness of the threat emerging from Afghanistan and the audacity of those behind it.”

Chinese workers killed in Tajikistan

Tajik officials said on Thursday that three employees of a Chinese company were killed in an attack launched from near the Afghan border. According to the Tajik Foreign Ministry, the workers in the country’s south were targeted with gunfire and a drone carrying explosives.

The statement said that “the attack, carried out with gunfire and a grenade-laden drone, resulted in the deaths of three employees of a Chinese company.”

Dushanbe rarely comments publicly on such incidents and did not say who it suspects of carrying out the attack.

Pakistan’s position

Following the incident, Pakistan’s Foreign Office issued a statement on Friday expressing condolences and solidarity with China and Tajikistan over the “heinous terrorist attack” near the Afghan border.

“Pakistan strongly condemns this cowardly attack on Chinese nationals,” the statement said. “The use of armed drones underscores the gravity of the threat originating from Afghanistan and the boldness of those responsible.”

The Foreign Office added that as a neighbour that has repeatedly suffered from terrorist attacks launched from Afghan soil, “the people of Pakistan fully understand and share the grief of our Chinese friends and Tajik partners.”

Pakistan has repeatedly stressed that Afghan territory must not be used for terrorism against neighbouring countries or any other state.

The statement said that the continued use of Afghan territory by terrorist groups—and their persistent presence under the Afghan Taliban’s watch—poses a serious concern for the entire region and the broader international community.

It added that only concrete and verifiable action against the perpetrators, supporters, facilitators, and financiers of terrorist groups operating from Afghanistan can address this growing threat.

Pakistan reaffirmed that it will continue working with China, Tajikistan, and other regional partners to promote peace, stability, and security in the shared neighbourhood.

Strained Pakistan–Afghanistan relations

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have recently become tense, mainly due to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has become a major point of friction. Pakistan has urged the Taliban government to stop cross-border attacks, while the Afghan Taliban deny Pakistan’s claims that militants are allowed to use Afghan soil for operations inside Pakistan.

Last week, Denmark—chairing the UN Security Council committee on ISIS and al-Qaeda sanctions—highlighted the “serious threat” posed by the TTP in Central and South Asia. The committee also said that the group is receiving “essential and substantial support” from Afghanistan’s interim authorities.

Tajikistan’s concerns

Meanwhile, Tajikistan—one of the poorest former Soviet states and a Muslim-majority country—has been increasingly concerned about rising extremism since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Militants remain active along the rugged, 1,350-kilometre border the country shares with Afghanistan.

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, in power since 1992, is an open critic of the Taliban and has urged them to respect the rights of ethnic Tajiks, who are estimated to make up about one-quarter of Afghanistan’s population of 40 million.

However, Tajikistan has cautiously engaged with Afghanistan in certain areas, including diplomatic contacts, opening border markets, and supplying electricity.

On Thursday, Tajikistan’s Foreign Ministry said that “criminal groups present in the neighbouring country (Afghanistan) continue to carry out actions aimed at destabilising the situation in the border regions.”