Tajikistan\'s Defense Ministry announced on 26 May that the number of Tajik officers to be sent to Russia for training this year is being reduced to 16. Previously, 100 Tajik officers were trained in Russia each year. The ministry was quoted as saying that the reason for the reduction was the increase in foreign offers of training for Tajik military personnel. This year, Tajik officer trainees will study in India, Iran, the United States, and Canada. Unlike Russia, these countries have offered to train Tajik officers free of charge. Thirty students of the Tajik Armed Forces Institute have already taken a course in mountain warfare in France, and the Tajik Defense Ministry is reportedly considering sending military-school graduates to France for full-scale training starting next year. (Interfax)