KABUL - The buildup of terrorist groups, including Taliban units, in immediate proximity to the Tajik border raised serious concern in the republic, an officer from the Tajik National Security Committee told Tass on Thursday.

"Over the recent time, we have been witnessing movement of armed groups, mostly from Taliban, in the Badakhshan /Pamir/ direction of the Tajik-Afghan border," the source said, adding that their numbers exceeded 1,000 gunmen.

"According to operational data of our Afghan colleagues, Taliban groups control a sizable part of Afghan settlements on the border with Tajikistan and they keep moving closer to the border, which cannot but alarm Dushanbe," the source added.

Focusing on the situation in another Afghan province bordering on Tajikistan, Kunduz, he said a trench war and sporadic shootouts between Afghan government troops and Taliban fighters have continued there after Taliban seized the administrative center on September 29. (Agencies)