Two shells fired in fighting between Afghanistan's Taliban and opposition forces have hit across the border in Tajikistan, the second such incident in three days, Russian border guards said Tuesday.
The shells exploded Monday some 100 meters (yards) inside Tajikistan, some 230 kilometers (143 miles) south of the Tajik capital Dushanbe. It was unclear which side in the ongoing Afghan civil war fired the shells.
On Saturday, border guards reported that nine shells exploded on Tajik soil territory.
Tajikistan's 1,500 kilometer frontier with war-torn Afghanistan is patrolled by Russian troops under a joint agreement with the two former-Soviet states.
Recent months have seen an upsurge in fighting in northeastern Afghanistan with the Taliban capturing Tajik-backed opposition commander Ahmed Shah Masood's key base of Taloqan.
The advance of the hardline Taliban has mounted fears in secular-governed Central Asia states that the fighting could spill across the frontier. Russian border guards also report frequent clashes with Islamic insurgents and drug traffickers -- DUSHANBE (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
