Afghans, Tajik Rebels Attack Russian Post

Heavily armed Afghan fighters penetrated at least eight miles into former Soviet territory Tuesday to join Tajik rebels for a large-scale assault on a Russian border post that also destroyed a village of 700, reports reaching Moscow said.

It was the most ruthless foray across the Afghan frontier with Tajikistan in recent times, according to the commander of the Russian units that still police the troubled border of the former Soviet republic.

Tajik Foreign Minister Rashid Alimov put the number of attackers at 200 and said they were equipped with mortars, rocket launchers and recoilless cannon. The Afghans and Tajik insurgents staged a two-pronged assault on the 50-member border guard unit after surrounding it and pummeling it with heavy mortar fire.

The village of Sarigor, home to 700 people, was “barbarically looted and burned,” Alimov said. He said 20 to 25 families perished, along with up to 50 belligerents on both sides. There was no independent confirmation of the death toll.

Russian border troops, units of the Russian army’s 201st Motorized Rifle Division and Tajik interior and security forces were hastily marshaled to go to the aid of the besieged outpost. By nightfall, the Russians and Tajik government units, backed by tanks and artillery, were counterattacking.

Muslim militants fighting the Tajikistan government have been receiving weapons and support from Afghan moujahedeen on the other side of the border.