Gunmen kill 2 in attack on Afghan-Tajik border

Two people were killed while one was injured in Tajikistan in the Afghan-Tajik border attack, security forces in Tajikistan said on Monday.

The Tajik Border Guards were looking for a group of 10 to 12 armed men who crossed the Panj River separating the country from Afghanistan yesterday. 

The men who were armed with hand-held grenade launcher and automatic rifles attacked three forest rangers, killing two of them while injuring one.

Cross-border clashes are rare on Afghanistan's border with Tajikistan, compared, for example, with fighting along Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistan.

The Panj area is currently under the Taliban control.

Afghanistan officials said on Monday a Tajik or Russian aircraft had bombed a northeastern Afghan border district during a clash between gunmen and Tajik border guards, but officials in both Tajikistan and Russia denied that they had done so.

(With inputs from agencies)