Victory of radical Islamists this week in Afghanistan sets region on edge. Russia sends troops to area.

Lucian Kim
Special to The Christian Science Monitor

TERMEZ, UZBEKISTAN

A small grave decorated with red stars overlooks the Amu-Darya, the mighty Central Asian river that delineates much of the border between the former Soviet Union and Afghanistan. The lonely monument is a testament to Moscow's futile attack on Afghanistan, launched from this scorching border town 20 years ago.

Now the southernmost point in the newly

The Central Asian republic of Uzbekistan has appealed for international assistance after last week's floods in which the Red Cross says up to 600 people are missing or feared dead.

The United Nations said in Geneva on Friday that the government of the former Soviet country asked the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to launch the appeal for disaster relief.

The Geneva-based International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said Uzbek officials reported at least 98 dead in the floods that hit east Uzbekistan and the Fergana

BISHKEK, July 13 (Reuters) - Inhabitants in east Uzbekistan, hit last week by deadly floods, were not warned of the threat of disaster by neighbouring Kyrgyzstan's weather service because of the absence of cash, a Kyrgyz official said on Monday.

At least 93 people have been killed so far in Uzbekistan's vast Fergana Valley region, defence and health ministry sources in the former Soviet republic said, while around 14,000 people have been evacuated.

Officials say thawing ice and snow in a mountainous area of neighbouring Kyrgyzstan caused a lake to overflow,