KYRGYZ BATTALION QUITS TAJIKISTAN.

The Kyrgyz army battalion which had since 1993 served under Russian command in Tajikistan completed its transfer to the home country yesterday. The battalion had been deployed in the Ishkashim border sector opposite Afghanistan, in difficult mountainous terrain. The Kyrgyz government decided to relocate it to Kyrgyzstan’s own border with China. Protection of that border is now in the process of being transferred from Russian border troops to Kyrgyz troops. Kyrgyzstan does not strictly differentiate between army and border troops, and will deploy the former in the role of the latter (Itar-Tass, February 28 and March 1).

Last December, Uzbekistan withdrew its battalion from Tajikistan where it had served, like the Kyrgyz, as a token component of “CIS peacekeeping” forces. Those forces, hitherto overwhelmingly Russian, are now becoming exclusively Russian. Moscow is about to conclude an alliance treaty with Tajikistan, under which Russian forces will drop their CIS guise and will acquire old-fashioned basing rights, on a bilateral Russian-Tajik basis.

The Monitor is a publication of the Jamestown Foundation. It is researched and written under the direction of senior analysts Jonas Bernstein, Vladimir Socor, Stephen Foye, and analysts Ilya Malyakin, Oleg Varfolomeyev and Ilias Bogatyrev. If you have any questions regarding the content of the Monitor, please contact the foundation. If you would like information on subscribing to the Monitor, or have any comments, suggestions or questions, please contact us by e-mail at pubs@jamestown.org, by fax at 301-562-8021, or by postal mail at The Jamestown Foundation, 4516 43rd Street NW, Washington DC 20016. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution of the Monitor is strictly prohibited by law. Copyright (c) 1983-2002 The Jamestown Foundation Site Maintenance by Johnny Flash Productions