DUSHANBE, September 15 (AVN) - Most officers of the headquarters of the CIS Collective Peacekeeping Forces in Tajikistan are to depart for Russia Friday, the Military News Agency learned.
This is done in accordance with the decision made by at the CIS presidential meeting in Moscow on June 21. The presidents decided that the forces have accomplished their mission and are to be disbanded. Official ceremonies devoted to withdrawal of the Russian peacekeeping contingent are attended by military representatives of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Russia. Lieutenant-General Anatoly Pimenov, forces commander, is also participating.
The decision to set up the forces was taken by the CIS leaders in November 1993. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Uzbekistan obliged to provide their peacekeeping contingents, but only the Russian contingent currently stays in the territory of Tajikistan, Major-General Valentin Orlov, commander of the 201st motorised rifle division, told the Agency. Uzbekistan withdrew its mechanised rifle battalion in 1995, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan did the same in 1998 and 1999 respectively.
Russia is currently represented in Tajikistan by two motorised rifle battalions of the division's 191st and 92nd regiments, SU-25 Frogfoot fighters of the 323rd separate attack aviation regiment, and a detached signal battalion of the Volga military district. In a year after their withdrawal, a Russian military base will be formed in the country. Tajik parliament has already ratified the appropriate agreement signed by the defence ministers of the two countries in 1999.The State Duma lower house of Russian parliament is also going to ratify the agreement.
The 201st division is likely to start fulfilling other missions as soon as the base is deployed, Orlov said. But the division will continue to provide echelon support of the outposts manned by the Russian border guards of the 48th and 117th detachments because nobody else can do that, the general added.