Tajikistan says destroyed militant group behind deadly clashes
Tajikistan launches air and ground operation against rebels, accusing them of attempting to overthrow the government
A photo taken in August 2010 and made available on September 21, 2010 shows Tajik border guards checking identification documents of people crossing the Tajik-Afghan border on a bridge across the Panj River outside the city of Panj. PHOTO: AFP
DUSHANBE:
Tajikistan said on Wednesday that it had eliminated a group of rebels behind recent deadly street battles in the volatile ex-Soviet state.
The interior ministry of the impoverished country bordering Afghanistan said it had eliminated a rebel group led by a former deputy defence minister, Abduhalim Nazarzoda.
"The terrorist group headed by ex-deputy defence minister Abduhalim Nazarzoda has been liquidated in the course of a joint operation of government troops," an interior ministry source told AFP.
Read: Eight police killed in Tajikistan shootouts: officials
He added that "Abduhalim Nazarzoda is also among the dead."
The rebels clashed with police in the capital Dushanbe and a nearby town in street battles earlier this month, killing nine police and wounding 10.
Tajikistan launched an air and ground operation against the rebels, accusing them of attempting to overthrow the government.
It said earlier on Wednesday that the rebels had killed four troops including a special forces commander in a shootout.
The rebels were sheltering in the mountainous Ramit Valley around 60 kilometres (35 miles) east of Dushanbe.
Nazarzoda served as deputy defence minister until his dismissal this month. He has been charged with treason, terrorism, sabotage and creating an extremist group.
Nazarzoda fought with the religious opposition against the secular government during a five-year civil war that ended in 1997 with a deal that saw former rebels integrated into the defence ministry.
Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon promised that perpetrators of armed attacks would be "deservedly punished".
Tajikistan on Tuesday hosted a summit of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation, a regional security organisation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told the summit that Tajikistan was facing "attempts to destabilise the situation" and pledged Russia's assistance if needed.
The latest violence comes amid growing tensions in the majority-Muslim but secular country of eight million over the role of Islam in public life.
Tajikistan's highly authoritarian government last month effectively banned the country's largest opposition party, the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan.
The government accused the opposition bloc made up of moderate Muslims and more secular-minded Tajiks of ties with the Islamic State group.
The authorities said that Nazarzoda was a member of the Islamic Renaissance party, although the party denied this.
Tajikistan's security structures say up to 600 of its citizens are fighting alongside IS militants in Iraq and Syria.
Tajikistan said on Wednesday that it had eliminated a group of rebels behind recent deadly street battles in the volatile ex-Soviet state.
The interior ministry of the impoverished country bordering Afghanistan said it had eliminated a rebel group led by a former deputy defence minister, Abduhalim Nazarzoda.
"The terrorist group headed by ex-deputy defence minister Abduhalim Nazarzoda has been liquidated in the course of a joint operation of government troops," an interior ministry source told AFP.
Read: Eight police killed in Tajikistan shootouts: officials
He added that "Abduhalim Nazarzoda is also among the dead."
The rebels clashed with police in the capital Dushanbe and a nearby town in street battles earlier this month, killing nine police and wounding 10.
Tajikistan launched an air and ground operation against the rebels, accusing them of attempting to overthrow the government.
It said earlier on Wednesday that the rebels had killed four troops including a special forces commander in a shootout.
The rebels were sheltering in the mountainous Ramit Valley around 60 kilometres (35 miles) east of Dushanbe.
Nazarzoda served as deputy defence minister until his dismissal this month. He has been charged with treason, terrorism, sabotage and creating an extremist group.
Nazarzoda fought with the religious opposition against the secular government during a five-year civil war that ended in 1997 with a deal that saw former rebels integrated into the defence ministry.
Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon promised that perpetrators of armed attacks would be "deservedly punished".
Tajikistan on Tuesday hosted a summit of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation, a regional security organisation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told the summit that Tajikistan was facing "attempts to destabilise the situation" and pledged Russia's assistance if needed.
The latest violence comes amid growing tensions in the majority-Muslim but secular country of eight million over the role of Islam in public life.
Tajikistan's highly authoritarian government last month effectively banned the country's largest opposition party, the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan.
The government accused the opposition bloc made up of moderate Muslims and more secular-minded Tajiks of ties with the Islamic State group.
The authorities said that Nazarzoda was a member of the Islamic Renaissance party, although the party denied this.
Tajikistan's security structures say up to 600 of its citizens are fighting alongside IS militants in Iraq and Syria.