MOSCOW, April 28 (AVN) - A sapper unit has arrived at the disposal of the commander of the Russian 201st motorised rifle division stationed in Tajikistan, a spokesman for the Defence Ministry told the Military News Agency on Saturday.
The unit is equipped with engineering reconnaissance vehicles and ZM-16 earthmovers needed to construct stationary fortifications and establish permanent fortified areas in the Shartuz - Kurchan and Nizhny Pyandzh areas. The division's task forces are already put on high alert. Mobile groups of the Pyandzh, Moscow, Kalai-Khumb and Khorog border guard detachments have also been reinforced.
The news was reported to Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov by Chief-of-Staff Anatoly Kvashnin on Friday. Kvashnin recently returned from a tour over Central Asia.
During the meeting the two officials discussed the situation in Central Asia in the light of growing tensions on the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border. Kvashnin reported on the measures taken under the auspices of the Collective Security Treaty. According to him, deployment of quick response collective forces numbering 1,500 to 1,700 servicemen should be speeded up as much as possible.
Each member nation of the Collective Security Treaty is to send a contingent consisting of a company or a battalion to join the forces. They will be commanded by a special headquarters for conducting an anti-guerrilla operation in Central Asia.
The situation in the area is further complicated by violent fights between the Taliban movement and the so-called Northern Alliance along the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border. The fights are already taking place 1km further from Afghanistan's Sherkhan-Bandar river port, which is located only 15km from the Tajik capital Dushanbe.
The fights might start in Tajikistan as well, Kvashnin noted. The situation in the area can become even worse if the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan led by Dzhumaboi Namangani will start combat operations simultaneously in Tajikistan and other Central Asian countries.