DUSHANBE, September 25, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- Border guards warded off two attempts by armed Afghan drug traffickers to illegally cross into Tajik territory on the Shuroobod stretch of the Tajik-Afghan border, Khatlon province on September 16 and 23 and seized totaling more than 252 kilograms of narcotic drugs, according to the main border directorate within the State Committee for National Security (GKNB).

The source at the border directorate said that a totaled had included 30 kilograms of raw opium and more than 222 kilograms of hashish. 

He noted that several trespassers had been killed in the skirmishes.  There are no causalities among the border guards, according to the source.   

This year has seen fifteen skirmishes between border guards and armed drug smugglers on the Shuroobod stretch of the Tajik-Afghan border.  452 kilograms of drugs, including 40 kilograms of heroin have been seized by the border guards and security officers on this stretch of the border since the beginning of this year.