The Taliban seized most of Afghanistan much faster than anyone expected and, as the militants moved into Kabul, Central Asian governments quickly tried to react to the changing situation along their borders with the country.
As expected, the Central Asian governments had to deal with the issue of refugees, but for Tajikistan and Uzbekistan more pressing was how to respond to Afghan military aircraft that flew into their airspace and requested to land.
On this week’s Majlis podcast, RFE/RL Media-Relations Manager Muhammad Tahir moderates a discussion on how Central Asia has responded so far to the Taliban seizing power and what might be coming next.
This week’s guests are: from Washington, Erica Marat, an associate professor at the National Defense University in Washington and author of many works on Central Asia; from Prague, Kayumars Ato, a journalist at RFE/RL’s Tajik Service, known locally as Ozodi; Pahlavon Turgunov, a journalist from RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service, known locally as Ozodlik; and Bruce Pannier, the author of the Qishloq Ovozi blog.
Majlis Podcast: A New Afghan Reality For Central Asia (rferl.org)
