Afghan refugees killed in Tajikistan, Russian military source says

November 28, 2000
Web posted at: 9:52 AM HKT (0152 GMT)

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan (Reuters) -- An unknown number of refugees fleeing fighting in Afghanistan were killed and wounded in overnight shooting in southern Tajikistan, a Russian military source in the former Soviet republic said on Monday.

Up to 5,000 Afghan refugees fleeing war between Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia and the opposition northern alliance are thought to have crossed into Tajikistan to escape the violence.

The Russian military source said there had been overnight firing from Afghanistan and that there had been deaths and injuries among the refugees, but he had no details on the latest numbers.

He said humanitarian organisations were trying to get help to the refugees.

The incident took place in the Pyandzh river region, 170 km south of the Tajik capital, and some two km inside Tajikistan.

There was no confirmation that the firing had come from Taliban positions. The Russian source said it was not the first time such an incident had happened.

Russia maintains over 10,000 border guards in Tajikistan which, weakened by a 1992-1997 civil war, is unable to defend its border with Afghanistan unaided.

Russia and the ex-Soviet republics of Central Asia fear the possible spread of fundamental Islam and drugs from Afghanistan across Tajikistan and into other states in the region.

The radical Islamic Taliban control some 95 percent of Afghan territory and there has been fierce fighting over the rest of the country, near the Tajik border, in recent weeks.

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