20 Tajik soldiers dead after rebel attack

DUSHANBE - Suspected terrorists attacked a convoy of troops in the central Asian nation of Tajikistan Sunday, killing 20, according to local media.

The convoy was in eastern Tajikistan, about 185 km east of the capital, Dushanbe, when it came under gunfire.

Defence Minister Sheraly Khairulloyev was on his way to survey the attack site.

Authorities suspect terrorists, many of whom escaped jail in August during a mass prison break and took to the mountains bordering China. The area was the headquarters of a rebellion in the 1990s that left tens of thousands dead in the country.

Violent incidents are on the rise in Tajikistan. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up in front of a police station earlier this month, killing two police officers.