DUSHANBE, September 11, 2010, Asia-Plus — One Tajik border guard and seven Afghan armed trespassers have been killed in a border skirmish on the Panj stretch of Tajik-Afghan border in Khatlon province.
A reliable source at the Main Border Troops Directorate within the State Committee for National Security (GKNB) told Asia-Plus on Saturday that the incident took place on the night of September 7-8.
“Tajik border guards on a routine patrol spotted a group of armed Afghans numbering some 40 persons on neutral islands in the Panj River,” said the source, “When the border guards tried to detain the trespassers, the last opened fire at them; the border guards responded to the shooting and the trespassers were forced to return to Afghan territory. Warrant of Tajik border troops, Safarbek Qurbonov, was killed in the skirmish. The bodies of seven killed trespassers and a large consignment of subversive literature were found on the spot.”
According to him, that group of armed Afghans was hiding on the islands from the NATO-led coalition forces. Afghan authorities have already been informed of the incident, the source added.
