DUSHANBE, May 24 (RIA Novosti) - Three U.S. citizens were detained near the Zorkul border checkpoint on the Tajik-Afghan border, chairman of the Tajik border protection committee Saidamir Zukhurov said at a press conference in Dushanbe on Tuesday.

According to him, the detainees were handed to the U.S. embassy yesterday.

"U.S. citizens who crossed the Tajik-Afghan border had Tajik visas issued by the Tajik embassy in the United States. It might be a misunderstanding because the young Americans had entry visas but did not know that the border should be crossed in special places," Zukhurov said.

The Zorkul checkpoint is located about 4,000 meters above the sea on the territory of the Murgab border detachment on the junction of the Tajik, Afghan and Chinese borders.

According to Zukhurov, the Tajik-Afghan border is a very complicated border given the instable situation in Afghanistan.

Tajik border guards detained 20 trespassers and seized 193 kilograms of drugs, over 20 machineguns and assault rifles and a big amount of ammunition on this sector over the first three months of 2005, Saidamir Zukhurov said. "We cannot relax because this is also the southern border of the CIS," he added.