 The First minister of the FBS (Federal Border Service) was Andrei Nikolayev,a young and outspoken general who later became deputy of the State Duma.Russian Border Guards were also stationed outside of Russia most notably in southern Tajikistan, in order to guard the border with Afghanistan, until summer 2005.On the Afghan-Tajik border on many occasions they were engaged in heavy fighting with drug-traffickers and Islamic extremists.