DUSHANBE, Tajikistan — The death toll from Sunday's attack by gunmen on a military column in Tajikistan has risen to 25 troops, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday, denying media reports of higher losses.
"It is with deep sorrow that the Defense Ministry of the Republic of Tajikistan announces the death of two more servicemen last night," the ministry said in a statement. It had earlier put the death toll at 23.
It denied media reports that Tajikistan had lost 40 of its troops and another 25 were missing, and asked journalists "to abstain from writing false and scandalous reports."
On Monday, the ministry said foreign Islamist militants from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Russia's Chechnya were responsible for the attack.
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