Uzbek Defence Minister Kodyr Gulomov expressed regret on Friday over recent mine accidents on the country’s border with Tajikistan, but said mines were needed against Islamic rebels, the Associated Press (AP) reported. Three Tajik men were seriously injured on 2 November after a mine exploded while they were gathering firewood and three women were hurt on 1 November along the same border area in Tajikistan’s northern Isfara region. Speaking at a news conference in the Uzbek capital Tashkent, Gulomov said: “We have information that citizens of Tajikistan were killed or injured by mine explosions”. “We express our deepest regret it has happened,” he was quoted as saying. The Uzbek military placed mines on the border in August in an effort to prevent Islamic militants from crossing into the country.
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