Authorities in Tajikistan say five militants have been killed in a gunfight at a remote military checkpoint near the border with Afghanistan, AP reported.
Police and security services said in statement released Monday that the men had Russian citizenship and were members of a terrorist group. No government forces were reported killed in the incident.
The clash last Thursday underscores rising nervousness about security in ex-Soviet Tajikistan, which shares a poorly protected 1,300-kilometer (830-mile) border with Afghanistan.
Observers believe the government is using a large-scale drugs sweep as cover to pursue militants hiding out in the region.