DUSHANBE, July 15, 2008, Asia-Plus — An event to commemorate 25 Russian border guards that were killed in a large scale attack on the Russian frontier post # 12 along the Tajik-Afghan border on July 13, 1993 was held at frontier post # 3 named after 25 Heroes of Shuroobod border unit of the Tajik border service on Sunday, July 13.
Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Viktor Letov, a spokesman for Russian operational border group, said that officers from the operational group, servicemen of the Shuroobod border unit, and veterans of border troops had attended the event to pay a tribute to servicemen that had died in that action.
We will recall that on July 13, 1993, fourteen armed groups, totaling some 250 Islamic fighters, crossed in from Afghanistan and attacked frontier post # 12 along the Tajik-Afghan border. There were only 48 servicemen, including three servicemen of Russian motorized rifle division 201, at the frontier post that time. The skirmish that lasted for more than eleven hours had resulted in 25 deaths and many more injures among the border guards.
By Russian president’s decree seven servicemen of the frontier post were given the title of the Hero of Russia; five of them were given this title posthumously.
