Tajik Police Say 17 Killed In 'Terrorist' Attacks

[Valin]

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:

RFE/RL's Tajik Service

September 04, 2015

 

Tajik officials say eight police officers and nine alleged assailants have been killed in attacks in and around the capital, in attacks the government blamed on a deputy defense minister. The Interior Ministry website said a "terrorist group" led by Deputy Defense Minister Abduhalim Nazarzoda, also known as Hoji Halim, launched a predawn attack on September 4 on the Vahdat district police headquarters and later clashed with security forces near the Dushanbe International Airport.

 

Police say nine attackers were killed by security forces and six others were detained. Authorities say a search operation is under way to arrest Nazarzoda, who escaped from the scene. President Emomali Rakhmon dismissed Nazarzoda earlier on September 4 for "committing a crime." Nazarzoda, a former Islamic opposition commander and member of the recently banned Islamic Renaissance Party, had joined the security forces in June 1997 when the government and the opposition signed a peace accord to end the five-year civil war.

 

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Fears Of Extremism

 

Amid long-standing concerns about a spillover of violence from Afghanistan, and newer worries about Tajiks travelling back from Syria after fighting alongside Islamic State militants, the long-ruling Rahmon has taken steps to suppress everyday expressions of faith. In recent months, the government has banned head scarves for schoolgirls, barred minors from mosques, and forced thousands of students to return home from Islamic schools abroad. On August 28, the government banned the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan -- ex-Soviet Central Asia's only registered Islamic party -- and gave its leaders 10 days to halt all activities.

 

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