DUSHANBE (TCA) — An overnight shoot-out at a post on the Tajik-Uzbek border has ended with one Tajik border guard and one police officer killed, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reported citing Tajik authorities.
Fifteen “unknown armed masked” attackers were killed by return fire, while the remaining five attackers were captured, the Tajik National Security Committee (KNB) said on November 6.
The 20 attackers struck the border post, located 60 kilometers southwest of Dushanbe in the Rudaki district, at 3 a.m. local time. The post was manned by a unit of the Sultanabad border guard detachment.
During the attack, the unidentified persons captured five Kalashnikov assault rifles, the KNB said.
The Tajik Interior Ministry reported that four vehicles of the attack group were also destroyed.
RFE/RL correspondents were not allowed to approach the scene. All roads in the area were closed and armed checkpoints have been set up in other parts of the country, including in the capital, Dushanbe.
No further information was provided about the attackers and the names of the dead police officer and border guard.
The incident took place on Tajikistan’s Constitution Day, a national holiday, and as President Emomali Rahmon was on an official trip to Europe accompanied by two dozen ministers until November 12.
