TAJIK REFUGEES IN AFGHANISTAN: HOW MANY?

The Tajik opposition’s chief official for refugee affairs and an unofficial Tajik refugee welfare fund in Moscow issued different figures on Tajik refugees in Afghanistan. They number 35,000 to 40,000 according to the opposition, but only 12,000 according to the Moscow fund’s representatives, who claimed that 60,000 refugees have left Afghanistan, most of them to return home. (Radio Free Tajikistan [the opposition’s station], August 27) The issue is important both from a humanitarian standpoint and because some refugees form a recruitment pool for the armed opposition.

Communists and Nationalists to Challenge Lebed’s Powers.