KARAUL TUBE: Soldiers of Russian 201 Infantry Division set up a position near Karaul Tube village on the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border some 300 km southwest of Dushanbe on September 24. A 25,000-strong Russian force patrols the border because, after years of civil war, Tajikistan is too weak to guard it. Just beyond the border, fighting between Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban militia and the Northern Alliance has intensified in the past two days.— AP/PTI