DUSHANBE. Oct 4 (Interfax-AVN) - Mercenaries from Arab countries, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and Chechnya may try to break into Tajikistan from Afghanistan, first deputy commander of the Russian border force in Tajikistan General Sergei Zhilkin said at a press conference in Dushanbe on Thursday.
The situation is especially tense in the areas protected by the Panj and Moscow border guard detachments, because that section of the border has been under Taliban control for about a year, Zhilkin said. The Taliban force is made up of gunmen of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and Arab and Chechen mercenaries. They have placed posts along the border, each with a strength of 20 to 30 men.
As for the possible inflow of Afghan refugees to Tajikistan, the general said, the border guards will maintain order, while the admission of refugees is the business of the Tajik government.
The Federal Border Guard Service of Russia predicted tension on the Tajik-Afghan border and reinforced the border force in Tajikistan with four mobile groups in the spring of 2001, Zhilkin said.
The Russian border force in Tajikistan will be reinforced even more, he remarked.