TAJIKISTAN SITUATION "SERIOUS BUT NOT HOPELESS"

Tajik Defense Ministry officers said yesterday on background that their troops alone have lost at least 200 killed in the last two months of fighting. Tajikistan’s first deputy minister of internal affairs, the Russian Maj. General Gennady Blinov, declined to estimate the losses of internal affairs troops, merely commenting that the situation was "serious but by no means hopeless." The losses of state security troops and the presidential guard, which also take part in the fighting, are similarly being kept secret. Tajikistan’s first deputy defense minister, the Russian Maj.-General Aleksandr Chubarov, warned yesterday in a cable to UN Secretary General Boutros-Boutros Ghali that his troops will continue operations in Tavildara until opposition forces cease alleged ceasefire violations. The UN for its part has not yet reacted to the government forces’ seizure of Tavildara town after the signing and entry into force of the armistice ten days ago.

Lt. General Viktor Zavarzin, commander of Russian "peacekeeping" troops in Tajikistan, announced yesterday a decision to allocate additional troops for reinforcing Russian border forces in order to repel or deter Tajik opposition fighters’ attempts to cross into Tajikistan from Afghanistan. Zavarzin’s command said that its troops have "for several years" participated in border defense operations, but the current situation "requires the allocation of more troops and equipment" to the Russian border troops. The remark departs from the standard claim that the Russian "peacekeepers" are neutral and do not engage in combat. (Itar-Tass, Interfax, July 29)

Primakov Justifies Russian Military Intervention.