DUSHANBE, July 2, 2015, Asia-Plus — Tajik rescuers have not been involved in search operation for three servicemen of the Russian military base who fell into Vakhsh River three days ago during a field exercise in Khatlon province, an official source at the Committee on Emergency Situations and Civil Defense under the Government of Tajikistan told Asia-Plus Thursday afternoon.
According to him, only servicemen of the Russian military base have been involved in the search operation for the soldiers.
“Nobody has applied to us for help,” the source said.
Meanwhile, Russian news agency Itar Tass reports the fate of the soldiers remains unknown.
The tragedy occurred on June 29 during the field exercise at the Sumbuli training ground in southern Tajikistan.
The Russian military base deployed in Tajikistan is Russia”s largest non-naval military facility outside the country. It was officially opened in Tajikistan in 2004 under a previous agreement, which was signed in 1993, and hosts Russia’s largest military contingent deployed abroad.
A total of some 7,000 Russian troops are stationed at three military facilities collectively known as the 201st military base – in Dushanbe, Qurghon Teppa, some 100 kilometers from Dushanbe, and Kulob, about 200 kilometers southwest of Dushanbe.
