DUSHANBE KILLING SPREE TARGETS RUSSIAN SOLDIERS.

In three separate incidents during the night of February 18-19 in Dushanbe, unidentified gunmen assassinated five Russians, including four military and security personnel. The most senior victim was a Lt. Col. of the Russian border troops. Several Tajik civilians were also shot in these incidents. Russian and Tajik officials speculate that the attacks are the work of Rahmon Sanginov’s guerrilla detachment, which operates in villages just east of Dushanbe against the government but is said to refuse to take orders from the Opposition. The Russian military command, as usual in such cases, "firmly demanded" that the Tajik government apprehend the perpetrators. (Itar-Tass, Interfax, February 19). To date the government has had little success in this endeavor. Assassinations of Russian soldiers in the capital have become more frequent since the December 23 armistice agreement.

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