Recent developments show that the Tajik-Afghan border will be increasingly important for political and security reasons as U.S. and NATO forces disengage from combat operations in Afghanistan. Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee said May 20 that the country's Federal Security Service foiled a militant attack in Moscow that was planned by Russian citizens trained in the Afghan-Pakistani border region. Four days earlier, Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Andrey Avetisyan said in an interview that Russia is considering redeploying guards to the Afghan-Tajik border, citing the growing threat of terrorism and narcotics flows. Securing the border will be crucial in preventing Afghan instability from spreading into Central Asia and Russia, and Moscow's role in patrolling this border will be particularly important. At a length of roughly 1,300 kilometers (810 miles), the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan has long been difficult to control.