Thirty-four Tajik troops have been killed in two separate incidents during a military operation against Islamic insurgents in the east of the Central Asian state, military sources said Thursday. The heavy toll in a single day in what official statements insisted were accidents is a severe blow for the government as it seeks to quell mounting Islamist unrest in the remote Rasht Valley in the east of the country.
Twenty-eight troops were killed Wednesday when a military helicopter crashed in a possible militant strike, military sources told AFP, although public statements insisted only four were killed in an accident.
"Not a single passenger survived the crash of the Mi-8 military helicopter on Wednesday morning," said a military source, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Twenty-eight members of the elite Alfa anti-terrorism division and officers of the Tajik national guard were killed," the source said, raising an earlier toll of 25. A high-ranking Tajik military source, also speaking on condition of strict anonymity, said that it was possible that the helicopter had been shot down by a missile fired by Islamists from their mountain hideouts.
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