DUSHANBE, January 28, 2010, Asia-Plus — A hand grenade was found near to the compound of the Russian military base in Dushanbe on January 27, according to the Ministry of Interior (MoI).
The source at a MoI said that the RGD-5 hand grenade wrapped with white rag was found Wednesday evening near the apartment building, 30/1 Pavel Khanzhin Street, some 10 meters from the entrance to the compound of the Russian military base. “Senior officials from the Ministry of Interior and demining specialists from the police special unit, OMON, came to the site,” said the source, “Demining specialists destroyed the found grenade in a quarry, not far from the cantonment.”
The RGD-5 hand grenade is a post World War II Soviet antipersonnel fragmentation grenade. The design dates from the late 1950s. It contains a 110 gram charge of TNT. The total weight of the grenade with the fuse fitted is approximately 310 grams. Typically, the RGD-5 uses the 3.2 to 4 second UZRGM fuze. The UZRGM fuze is a universal Russian type which is also used in the TG-41, RG-42 and F-1 grenades.
We will recall that a large arms cache, containing one assault rifle Kalashnikov, two small-bore rifles, one hunting gun, one “Mukha” disposable grenade launcher, four F-1 hand grenades, two RGD-5 hand grenades, and 660 bullets of different caliber, was discovered in the Hissor district, some 20 kilometers southwest of Dushanbe, on January 26.
The same day, the F-1 hand grenade was confiscated from Dushanbe resident Saidjaffar Tilloyev. The grenade was found in his car. Criminal proceedings have been instituted against S. Tilloyev and an investigation is under way.
109 firearms, including 30 assault rifles Kalashnikov, 18 pistols, 21 rifles, 13 grenade launchers and other weapons, have been seized by Tajik law enforcement authorities since the beginning of this year.
According to data of the MoI, 1,128 firearms were seized in the country in 2009. A totaled included 213 assault rifles, 139 pistols, 156 carbines, 134 rifles, 448 hunting guns and a large amount of bullets of different caliber.
