Tajikistan's Civil War

Displaced Tajiks returning to their homes following the 1997 peace accord (TASS) - An estimated 1.2 million people were displaced by the five-year Tajik civil war.

Government forces take up postions in Tursunzade in January 1997 (TASS) - The war left from 50,000 to 100,000 people dead and devastated the country's infrastructure.

Tajik refugees returning from Afghanistan after the 1997 cease-fire (TASS) - Journalists and intellectuals were particularly targeted during the fighting, leading to a massive brain drain. In addition, four members of the United Nations Mission of Observers to Tajikistan were victims.

Major General Pavel Lipsky, deputy commander of the CIS peacekeeping force in Kabodien in August 1997 (TASS) - Although most of the fighting occurred in the southern part of the country in 1992-94, there was fighting in Dushanbe in 1996. Islamist radicals from Afghanistan also joined in the fighting, according to many reports.

Tajik soldiers near Kabodien in August 1997 (TASS) - Much of the worst violence was directed against the Pamiri and Garmi ethnic minorities. Human Rights Watch described the efforts against them as an ethnic-cleansing campaign. It included mass killings, burnings of villages, and the driving of these populations into Afghanistan.

Tajik soldiers near Kabodien in August 1997 (TASS)

Refugees returning to Dushanbe in 1997 (TASS)

Refugees returning to Dushanbe in 1997 (TASS)

Tajik government and oppostion figures sign a cease-fire deal in Dushanbe in December 1996 (TASS)