During the first 10 days of the spring draft season, Tajikistan has reported a 50% completion of the plan. According to Faridun Mahmadalizoda, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense of Tajikistan, on the very first day of the draft (April 1), all cities and districts of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of the country reported completion of the draft plan.
In addition to the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, the Rashtsky, Sangvorsky, Lakhshsky, Nurabadsky, and Tajikabadsky districts also reported completion of the plan in the first 10 days of the draft. The Hatlon region has achieved a 62% completion rate, with reports of completion in the Vakhshsky, Farkhorsky, Khojand, Muminabadsky, and Nosiri Khusravsky districts.
In the centrally governed areas, the plan has been completed by 55%. The lowest completion rates were seen in the Sughd region (36%) and the city of Dushanbe (30%). Overall, from April 1 to 10, the national completion rate exceeded 50%, with 20 cities and districts of the country reporting full completion of the plan.
As per the president's decree, young citizens born between 1997 and 2006 are being called for service this draft season, which will last until May 31.
However, with the start of the draft, reports of "roundups" have resurfaced on social media. Several young individuals have shared on social platforms that they were forcibly taken in overcrowded minibuses to different parts of the capital to determine if they had served in the army.
Such reports have been emerging at the start of the draft campaign in the country for several years now. Inadequate conditions, harsh treatment of soldiers, hazing, and the deaths of young individuals in military units are cited as the main reasons why young people refuse to serve in the Tajik army, leading to their forced "drafting."
In recent years, various tactics have been used during the campaign, ranging from "taking parents hostage" to cutting off electricity in the homes of conscripts and closing the doors of mosques.
The authorities of the country consistently deny the existence of "roundups" and emphasize that "such incidents only occur when young people fail to report to the military enlistment office after receiving a summons."
