From: Abraham Rein (ARein@sorosny.org)
Date: Wed Aug 23 2000 - 10:59:40 EDT
UZBEK PRESIDENT WARNS THAT FIGHT WITH MILITANTS WILL BE
DIFICULT. Islam Karimov said on 22 August after visiting the
Surkhandarya Oblast, the scene of the first militant
incursion earlier this month, that the military failed
initially to assess the complexity of the situation, and
consequently Uzbek forces incurred "unjustified" losses,
Interfax reported. He said that the militants "continue to
offer resistance" and must be systematically tracked down and
destroyed. An Uzbek Defense Ministry official had said last
week that the operation to eliminate the militants was all
but over (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 August 2000). Unnamed
Russian military sources told Interfax in Moscow on 21 August
that the fighters from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan are
taking advantage of the failure by the armed forces of
Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan to coordinate their
military response to the incursions. Those sources repeated
allegations by the Russian media last week that the militants
are receiving support from former members of the United Tajik
Opposition. LF
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