Moscow Does Not Expect Massive Influx Of Afghan Refugees Towards CIS Borders

Russian frontier guards who are serving on the Tajik border do not register "a landslide increase" of the number of refugees from inner regions of Afghanistan moving towards the northern borders of the country. This was disclosed on Thursday by one of the commanders of the Federal Frontier Service (FPS) of Russia Nikolai Reznichenko. According to the estimates of the Frontier Service, at present there are from 6,000 to 8,000 people in the region of the Tajik-Afghan border but they encamped there prior to the beginning of NATO missile-bomb strikes. One can hardly expect a further massive influx of refugees to the northern borders of Afghanistan, the general believes. According to him, the drugs smuggling creates more serious problems for the Russian frontier-guards in Tajikistan. Over 10 months of this year more than 5 tonnes of drugs, including 2.2 tonnes of heroin, were confiscated at the Tajik-Afghan border, as against 801 kg of heroine confiscated last year, the Russian general said.