Afghanistan Operation May Affect Tajik-Afghan, Russian-Georgian Border Situation

The current military operation in Afghanistan may affect the situation on the Tajik-Afghan and Russian-Georgian border, a RIA Novosti correspondent quoted Colonel-General Nikolai Reznichenko as saying at a press conference in Moscow on Thursday. Reznichenko is the first deputy head of the main HQ of the Federal Frontier Service /the FPS/. If anything, "reserve troops and weapons will be urgently called to duty, as was the case when the Gelayev group of Chechen militants penetrated into the Kodori Gorge," he said. In addition, all measures have been taken at the international checkpoints on certain sections of the border. These steps are designed to prevent the penetration into Russia of persons who for different reasons have been denied entry, the general explained.