DUSHANBE, August 27, 2012, Asia-Plus – A shell that recently exploded in Kulob has no relation to the Russian military base in Tajikistan, Dmitry Matushkin, an assistant to the commander of the Russian base in Tajikistan, stated on August 27.

According to him, the military base keeps strict record of shells.  “During the life-fire missions, observers register all the unexploded ordnances (UXOs) and after the life-fire missions, all the UXOs are destroyed by field engineer subunits,” Matushkin noted.   

We will recall that under the current 10-year lease signed in 2004, Russia gets exclusive use of three military bases in Dushanbe, Kulob and Qurghon Teppa and joint use of an air base free of charge.

Meanwhile, a nine-year-old boy was killed recently after a shell exploded in his hands.  The tragedy took place in the Shouroobod district that borders Afghanistan.

An official source at the Shouroobod district administration says the boy found the unexploded ordnance (UXO) not far from the village, where armored vehicles of the Russian military base had been deployed for six years to support Russian border guards on the Tajik-Afghan border.  It has been the sixteenth victim of landmines and UXOs in the Shouroobod district in recent years, the source noted.