Posted on 09/11/2001 10:36:13 PM PDT by HAL9000
DUSHANBE (Itar-Tass) -- Planes without identification marks intruded Tajikistan's airspace from the territory of neighbouring Afghanistan three times over the past 24 hours.An officer in the press service of the Russian Border Group in Tajikistan told Itar-Tass on Wednesday that the first intruder plane was spotted by border patrols of the Khorog border detachment at 17:15. on Tuesday. The plane was flying along the line of the State border with Afghanistan at an altitude of 3,000 metres and disappeared in the direction of Afghanistan 15 minutes later.
At 02:30 on Wednesday, border patrols of the Ishkashim border detachment recorded an intrusion into Tajikistan's airspace from Afghanistan by a plane which was flying at an altitude of 4,000 metres.
More than one hour later, Russian borderguards of the Khorog border detachment spotted yet another intruder plane at an altitude of 4,000 metres. The plane was flying from Afghanistan in the direction of Dushanbe.
Tajikistan's air defence troops were promptly notified about all those incidents.
By Galina Gridneva and Valery Zhukov
(c) 1996-2001 ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved.
Unidentified aircraft violates Tajik airspace three times overnight
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan (AP) - Unidentified airplanes entered Tajik airspace from Afghanistan three times, Russian border guards said Wednesday.
The plane, at an altitude of approximately 3000-4000 meters (9,900-13,200 feet), first crossed the Tajik border on Tuesday afternoon, then quickly returned to Afghanistan. It or another plane entered Tajik airspace at about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday (20:30 GMT Tuesday) and again about one hour later, the border guards' press service said.
On the last flight, the plane was headed toward the Tajik capital Dushanbe, and the border guards warned the Tajik air defense command. There was no information on the plane's further flight.
Copyright 2001 Associated Press, All rights reserved
....and then promptly returned to their slumber, realizing that the intrusions were merely the camel's nose under the tent.
Northern Alliance?... hhmmm
Repeat bump.
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