REBEL STRONGHOLDS IDENTIFIED IN TAJIKISTAN.

The Russian military command in Tajikistan disclosed yesterday that supporters of the rebel ex-Colonel Mahmud Hudoberdiev are regrouping in southwestern Tajikistan. A 240-strong rebel detachment has been spotted in the Shartuz district, situated near the point where the borders of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan intersect. Last week, the Uzbek battalion which formed a token component of “CIS peacekeeping troops” left Shartuz and returned to Uzbekistan. The Tajik military are poorly placed to police Shartuz.

Tajik military officials for their part admitted that another rebel unit is putting up “fierce resistance” in the Aini district, near the strategic Anzob pass midway between Dushanbe and Hujand. In the latter city, the capital of Leninabad region, the authorities captured yesterday a “subversive group” of “pro-Hudoberdiev rebels” and a store of arms and explosives (Russian agencies, November 24).–VS

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