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Tajikistan

Tajikistan: Relief for victims of fighting in Khodjent

ICRC News 98/45
In the two days following the violent clashes that erupted on 4 November in the region of Khodjent in northern Tajikistan, the ICRC'S delegations in Dushanbe and Tashkent, Uzbekistan, sent teams to the area. The delegates accompanied several convoys delivering medical and emergency relief to the wounded and other victims of the fighting. Between 6 and 8 November, as part of the same operation, the ICRC also evacuated 40 foreign nationals.

The ICRC has provided the five main hospitals in Khodjent and Chkalovsk with enough medical supplies to treat 300 wounded. Medical assistance was also given to the civilian and military hospitals in Dushanbe, which had admitted 94 soldiers wounded during the fighting.

In cooperation with the Red Crescent Society of Tajikistan and the local authorities, the ICRC surveyed further needs. In the centre of Khodjent 20 families left without shelter were given emergency aid, but some 1,000 additional people whose homes were damaged still require assistance. Between 400 and 500 persons were wounded during the clashes.

Although calm has returned to the regions of Khodjent and Chkalovsk, fighting continues around Aini, in the Zarafchan valley, situated between Dushanbe and Khodjent. Despite several attempts, the ICRC has not yet received permission from the authorities to go to the valley and assess needs there.

The ICRC has been present in Tajikistan since 1992. It works from a delegation in Dushanbe and two offices in Garm and Khorog.