MILITANT ACTIVITIES MAY FLARE UP ON KIRGHIZ-TAJIK BORDER IN MARCH-APRIL








ALMA ATA, March 1. /RIA Novosti's correspondent Revmira Voshchenko/. The defense ministers of Kazakhstan and Kirghizia say that militant activities may become reinvigorated on the border of Kirghizia and Tajikistan in March-April. 


	The RIA Novosti correspondent reports that at a meeting in Alma Ata on Thursday the chiefs of the Kazakh and Kirghiz military establishments, Sat Tokpakbaev and Esen Topoev, said that additional measures for border protection will have to be taken when snow melts on mountain passes. 


	Topoev told journalists after the meeting that "events in the Banken district of Kirghizia in recent years are manifestations of international terrorism, which was born far beyond Kirghizia. It appeared above all as a result of the unending military conflict in Afghanistan, where the main terrorist-training bases are found". 


	"For repelling a new invasion by militants we have considered the tactics of hostilities which terrorists practised in 1999-2000 in the Banken district. We must utilise our own experience to prepare soldiers and officers for possible actions in the future", said the Kirghiz defense minister. 


	At the meeting they reached agreement on holding joint command-and-staff and military exercises in Kirghizia, training a cadre of officers this year. 


	"Several units will be raised in 2001 as a preventive measure against terrorists in the Banken district. Their operations will be in line with possible developments in the region and the south of Kirghizia", he said. 


	The two military chiefs signed a protocol on further development of bilateral military-technical cooperation.