Russia to Strengthen Tajikistan Forces
President Boris N. Yeltsin told the Defense Ministry on Thursday to get ready to beef up Russian forces in Tajikistan after a deadly attack on a border post by Islamic guerrillas.
The legislature later approved a package of agreements with Tajikistan’s pro-Communist government permitting Russia to use force against Islamic militants in the former Soviet republic.
Civil war broke out last year in Tajikistan after pro-Communists ousted an alliance of democrats and Muslim fundamentalists. Tens of thousands of Tajik fighters fled to Afghanistan, where they launch periodic cross-border attacks.
In a statement issued by his press service, Yeltsin expressed his “determination to defend the national and geopolitical interests of Russia and its allies.”
Russia said at least 25 of its soldiers died in Tajikistan on Wednesday when it retook a border post from Muslim rebels who infiltrated from Afghanistan.
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