Russia reports fighting in northern Afghanistan, near Tajik border

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan (Reuters) -- Troops loyal to Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia are fighting anti-Taliban forces near the country's border with Tajikistan, a senior Russian border guard official said on Saturday.

Russia maintains several thousand border guards along the volatile frontier between Afghanistan and former Soviet Tajikistan.

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"There is military action now going on between Taliban forces and the anti-Taliban coalition in several places on Afghan territory, in one case just three kilometers (1.9 miles) from the border," Sergei Zhylkin, head of Russia's border guards in Tajikistan, told journalists.

"Yesterday, four artillery rounds landed on Tajik territory from Afghanistan as a result of these actions. The rounds landed midway between two border points but there were no injuries," he added.

The Taliban said on Friday it had seized a river port and three other strategic areas on the border with Tajikistan, the latest in a string of victories over their opponents.

Russia and Tajikistan have long expressed fears that instability in Afghanistan could spill over into other parts of Central Asia. But Zhylkin said he did not expect direct attempts by the Taliban to enter Tajikistan.

The Taliban's rigid version of Islam is seen as a serious threat by the largely secular former Soviet states in the region, which is why Tajikistan still welcomes the presence of Russian troops.

Tajik Foreign Minister Talbak Nazarov described Afghanistan on Thursday as a training ground for terrorists and extremists.

Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, recognized by the United Nations even though he is not in control of the country, said on Friday the Taliban represented a threat even beyond the confines of Central Asia.

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