Afghan fighting prompts Russia border troops alert

Afghan fighting prompts Russia border troops alert
REUTERS

DUSHANBE, SEPT 25: Russian forces guarding the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan have stepped up security because of intensifying fighting across the frontier in Afghanistan, a spokesman for the border guards said on Monday.

"Fighting is now going on just two or three kilometres from the Tajik-Afghan frontier," he said, adding that the Taliban movement, which controls most of Afghanistan, had been able to go right up to the border in places.

Russia deploys thousands of troops to defend the border in Tajikistan, a poor former Soviet republic which has been weakened by a civil war from 1992 to 1997 and is in no position to guard the volatile frontier unaided.

The spokesman said because of the fighting, the border guards had switched to a higher security regime and moved artillery into position, and also closed frontier crossing points in two places.

The Taliban said its troops had taken one of the crossing points, the river Port of Shir Khan Bandar, last week.

While the Taliban controls much of Afghanistan, the UN still recognises the legitimacy of ousted President Burhannudin Rabbani, and clashes between forces loyal to him and the Taliban have increased in recent days.

On Friday, four artillery rounds fired from Afghan territory impacted in Tajikistan, but no injuries or damage were reported.

The head of Russian border guards in Tajikistan, Sergei Zhilkin, said on Saturday he did not expect the Taliban to threaten the border itself, although he said refugees and anti-Taliban coalition forces could build up in the border area.