World IN BRIEF : RUSSIA : Official Claims Right to Hit Afghan Targets

Russian troops guarding Tajikistan’s border have the right to attack targets inside Afghanistan to prevent rebels from launching cross-border raids, a top military official said in Moscow. The harsh comments by Vladimir Bondarenko, the chief of staff of Russia’s Security Ministry, marked an escalation in Russian rhetoric. But Foreign Ministry spokesman Boris Kustovsky later declined to assert such a right. Russia has thousands of soldiers in Tajikistan and plans to bolster its presence in the former Soviet republic in response to attacks by Tajik rebels, who Russia claims are aided by Afghan forces. Afghanistan denies the charge.