TAJIK FIGHTING BEGINS TO INTENSIFY.

Even as Dushanbe andthe Tajik opposition begin to explore the possibility of a politicalaccord, fighting between Russian and Tajik government forces,on the one hand, and Tajik opposition fighters, on the other,has intensified over the last two weeks. The commander of Russianborder troops there, Lt. Gen. Pavel Tarasenko, told Interfax July24 that Tajik opposition forces had recently entered Tajikistan’sBadakhshan region from Afghanistan in order to join up with theircomrades in arms already there. Russian radio reported on July23 that a crowd in the Badakhshan administrative center Khoroglaid siege to a Russian border guard unit for several hours untilthe soldiers fired their weapons

The Latest Word from a Nonexistent Country.