ARMED CONFRONTATION IN TURSUNZADE RESUMES.
ARMED CONFRONTATION IN TURSUNZADE RESUMES.
The western town of Tursunzade, along with its aluminum plant (Tajikistan’s chief industrial asset), seems to be slipping out of the government’s reach. A large crowd of local people yesterday blocked the path of a Presidential Guard unit that was attempting to enter the town, and the local military commander, Lt. Col. Dovlat Tursunov, sided with the populace and its armed "self-defense groups" against the force from Dushanbe. The latter, headed personally by the commander of the Presidential Guard, Maj. Gen. Gafar Mirzoev, remains poised outside the town. Armed supporters of anti-Dushanbe warlord Ibod Boimatov, who is based in neighboring Uzbekistan, have also joined the locals. (Interfax, Western agencies, January 16; Itar-Tass, January 17)
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