Two Tajik women were killed and three other Tajiks seriously injured on Tuesday after stepping on antipersonnel mines planted on the Tajik-Uzbek border, a UN official in Tajikistan told IRIN on Thursday. This latest incident brings to 21 the total number of Tajiks killed on the Tajik-Uzbek border as a result of antipersonnel explosions in the six months to January. A further 30 people have been injured in this period.
The antipersonnel mines have become a serious issue of contention between the neighbouring countries since the Uzbek military placed mines on the border in August 2000 in an effort to prevent Islamic militants from crossing into Uzbekistan. The UN official said that the international body was monitoring the mine problem between the two countries, both of which had recently established special teams to tackle the issue. Uzbekistan has promised to take appropriate measures to resolve the problem. The governments of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and nearby Kyrgyzstan have faced ongoing incursions in recent months from Islamic insurgents who allegedly want to carve out an independent, Islamic state in the former Soviet Central Asia.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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