DUSHANBE, September 21, 2010, Asia-Plus — The death toll in a September 19 attack on a military convoy in Rasht district has risen to 25 as two servicemen died Monday night of wounds sustained in the attack, according to the Ministry of Defense (MoD).
A statement released by a MoD denies reports by some media that allegedly at least 40 soldiers were killed in the Rasht attack and 25 others are reported missing as “baseless.”
The ministry has called on all local and foreign media to refrain from releasing speculative and false reports on that incident and closely cooperate with press services of the country’s law enforcement agencies.
The statement also noted that operation by all power-wielding structures of the country for detention of criminal groups was going on in Rasht Valley.
We will recall that the MoD announced Sunday evening that the military convoy was ambushed in the Kamarob Gorge in Rasht district, some 250 kilometers east of Dushanbe, on September 19, at 12:30 pm. 23 soldiers were killed and several others were wounded. The Defense Ministry spokesman Faridoun Mahmadaliyev said the gunmen are believed to have included militants from Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as fighters from Russia”s North Caucasus republic of Chechnya.
