Tajik National Army

National Army of Tajikistan
Active	February 1993 - present
Country	Tajikistan
Branch	Army
Type	National army
Role	Defense of Tajikistan
Size	12,000
Garrison/HQ	Dushanbe
Colors	Green
Anniversaries	Tajik National Army Day
Engagements	Tajik civil war

The National Army is the ground force of the military of Tajikistan. Created shortly after the Tajik civil war in February 1993, the Army has undergone heavy reforms and buildup. It is trained by personnel from Russia, France, India, and the United States.

The Army is overseen by the Tajik Defense Ministry. Many units are former militias, including several that fought the government during the Tajik civil war as part of the United Tajik Opposition.

Tajikistan is the only former Soviet republic that did not form its armed forces from old Soviet Army units. Instead, the Russian Defense Ministry took direct command of the Soviet units there, forcing the Tajik regime to build an army from virtually nothing. During the 1990s, the army was small and had little amounts of native Tajiks in it. The army failed to effectively defend the regime, which resulted in a civil war. The regime was dependent on other Central Asian countries and CIS states on security, to the point that if they decided to withdraw their forces, the regime would collapse.

During the Tajik civil war (1992–1993), the Russian government had around 22,000 to 25,000 troops stationed in Tajikistan to help the regime as part of a defense agreement, which is why the Tajik government was able to survive the war. The war was often thought to have been started by Islamic fundamentalists, but more accurately, it was a war between the regional clans and ethnic groups.

The Tajik regime began assembling their own army in February 1993. The first units were drawn from the militias who fought in the civil war, allowing them to keep their ideologies and original commanders. That caused them to refuse to accept orders from higher authorities, and for skirmishes to break out between units. In early 1996, a rebellion occurred by the First Brigade of the Presidential Guard, after they fought and defeated the 11th Brigade. Though they were ultimately defeated in an attempt to take Dushanbe, the leader escaped to nearby Uzbekistan.

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