Russia, which still commands 25, 000 border troops in the region, shares Mr Rakhmonov's fears.

ECONOMIST: The battle for Afghanistan

Recent elections, criticised by international observers, strengthened the party of the president, Imomali Rakhmonov.

ECONOMIST: A proliferation of revolutions

Reducing poverty and solving such problems are primary goals for Mr Rakhmonov's government.

ECONOMIST: Tajiks need peace in Afghanistan

The Tajik president, Imamali Rakhmonov, called an emergency meeting after the fall of Mazar to discuss events to the south.

ECONOMIST: The battle for Afghanistan

This time it is not between the mainly Islamic United Tajik Opposition and the 20, 000-strong Russian peacekeeping force that has kept President Imamali Rakhmonov in power.

ECONOMIST: Tajikistan

This month, the brother of a leading politician was sentenced to death for, it was alleged, taking part in a grenade attack on Mr Rakhmonov's motorcade.

ECONOMIST: Tajikistan

From Tajikistan's President Imomali Rakhmonov, with his celebration of Tajikistan's Aryan, pre-Islamic past, to Uzbekistan's adoption of Tamerlane as the nation's founder (even though he was not an Uzbek), these efforts have proved divisive.

ECONOMIST: Central Asia's five stans

To negotiate a peace with Mr Nuri, Mr Rakhmonov has had to take into account the views of Russia, his anti-Islamist parliament and half a dozen warlords with their own fiefs and their own ambitions.

ECONOMIST: Tajikistan