Russia may send commandos to Afghanistan

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, SEPT. 26. Russia may send commandos to Afghanistan to help the Northern Alliance defeat the Taliban. Russia's crack anti- terrorist units Alpha and Vympel, as well as commandos of the army general staff's intelligence service GRU have been put on alert in anticipation of march orders, a Moscow newspaper said. The AIF weekly said all leave for the elite commando units had been cancelled and officers were talking of heading south, ``across the river'', which in the military jargon means Afghanistan. Military sources in Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan, confirmed that about 1,700 Russian troops were due to arrive in Tajikistan this week.

The sources said it was a scheduled replacement for Russian troops posted in the Central Asian republic, which had been planned long before the September 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. However, the commander of the Russian border guards, Gen. Nikolai Totsky, said today that Russia was deploying additional forces along the Tajik-Afghan border.

The Russian Defence Minister, Mr. Sergei Ivanov, on Wednesday ruled out the possibility that Russian troops may take part in fighting in Afghanistan.

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Section  : International
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