Deadly mudslides in Tajikistan
Unusually powerful mudslides and avalanches have killed at least 18 people, including seven children, in the Central Asian republic of Tajikistan this month, according to official reports. Tajikistan, is a former Soviet republic which plunged into civil war almost as soon as it became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Landslides happen every year in Tajikistan but they were stronger than usual this spring due to very heavy rainfall. That has added hardship to the mountainous nation of seven million already hit hard by the global economic downturn.
One such mudslide swept through the central streets of the capital, Dushanbe, last week, causing panic but no casualties