The loser's war. Tajik - Afghan border

I went back on 2008 to see the development of the issue. What I discovered was a brigade of 1,000 teenager under military service trying to stop the market of death. Three years spent along the river on foot. Eight-hour shifts, night and day. Old unreliable rifles, rationed cartridges, unreliable radio connections. Shabby shelters, meagre slops. The standard meal, after 8 hours patrol, is a vegetable soup, a piece of bread (made by themselves) and a cup of tea. Six dollars the monthly money in a country where the average wage is 50 a month; and where a litre of milk costs one. Demotivated, unprepared and scared, Tajikistan boy soldiers fight a loser’s war against an enemy equipped with all the latest technology. An enemy who knows how to exploit widespread corruption from the lowest officials up to the highest authorities - not only Tajik but Chinese, Kirghiz and Russian. Obviously the river of poison which corrupts and kills and which enriches outrageously the world of crime grows and grows and nothing can do these young boys unless serve the compulsory military service. Many millions are allocated to prevent drug traffic and other projects but only few of them are devoted; funds vanish while poverty, AIDS, HIV and drug addiction affect Tajik men and women worsening social, healthy and economic problems.