Fahim is to spend two days in the Tajik capital Dushanbe, during which he will meet President Emomali Rakhmonov and the defence, foreign and interior ministers.

"During our meetings we will discuss issues of regional security, including cooperation in the fight against drugs smuggling and other problems that are equally important for Afghanistan and Tajikistan," he told reporters.

The former Soviet republic is the main transport route to western Europe for drugs from Afghanistan, whose drug production has skyrocketed since the November 2001 fall of the hardline Taliban regime, which banned poppy production.

Some 11,000 Russian border guards are stationed in Tajikistan, helping to guard the 1,340 kilometre (800 mile) border with Afghanistan, which produces nearly 80 percent of the world's opiates.

WAR.WIRE