MOSCOW (AP) - Security officials in Tajikistan said on Monday that two people have been killed and one injured after men stormed the border from Afghanistan.
Tajik Border Guards said in a statement that they are looking for a group of 10 to 12 armed men who crossed the Panj River separating the country from Afghanistan on Sunday. The men, armed with a hand-held grenade launcher and automatic rifles opened fire on three forest rangers, killing two of them and injuring one.
Tajikistan has a long, porous border with Afghanistan, and the area across the Panj is currently under Taliban control.
The incident comes a week before Moscow hosts a Taliban delegation for Afghanistan talks.
Russia’s Defense Ministry later on Monday denied reports that it carried out airstrikes on nearby Taliban-controlled territory in retaliation.
Officials in Russia and Tajikistan have long been worried about a potential spillover of militant activities from Afghanistan. The chief of Tajikistan’s Border Guard Forces earlier this year raised the alarm about an estimated 7,000 Afghan militants roaming the border area.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.