The Associated Press
Friday, Aug. 10, 2001; 5:43 a.m. EDT

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan –– Government troops in Tajikistan killed a leading rebel warlord in a shootout southeast of the capital on Friday, the Interior Ministry said.

Rakhmon Sanginov was killed about 12 miles southeast of Dushanbe, the ministry said. It was unclear whether there were any casualties among government forces.

Sanginov led a band of militants along with Masur Muakalov, whom the military claimed to have killed in July. The fighters are accused of drug dealing, hostage taking and 270 killings since 1997.

After the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union, this tiny central Asian nation descended into civil war between a hard-line secular government and the mostly Islamic opposition. The truce that ended the war gave the opposition jobs in the government and the military, but some warlords have refused to recognize the peace deal.

Following the truce, Sanginov was appointed commander of a military unit, but was discharged in 1998 for repeated insubordination. Muakalov also served in the Defense Ministry, but quit out of solidarity with Sanginov.

The Tajik Security Council said Friday there are no more than 10 fighters left at large.