Terrorism in Tajikistan
Terrorism in Tajikistan stems largely from the forces of the political opposition who opposed the comprehensive peace agreement that ended the
Banned terrorist organizations
Prosecutor-General Bobojon Bobokhonov announced on 15 January 2007 that the Tajik Supreme Court added ten entities to the Tajik government's list of banned terrorist organizations at the end of 2006. Groups the Supreme Court added include the
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
Six members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and Hizb ut-Tahrir allegedly attacked Kyrgyz and Tajik border posts in Batken on 12 May 2005, killing several border guards. Their hearings on 29 August 2006 were brief because lawyers for two of the defendants and some witnesses did not go to court. One of the defendants is a woman and one is a Tajik citizen.[4]
On 12 May 2006, the anniversary of the 2005 border attack and the Andijan massacre in Uzbekistan, several militants attacked Tajik border guards before passing into Kyrgyzstan, killing three Tajik guards and a Kyrgyz customs official. More than 200 Kyrgyz security forces tracked down the militants, killing four and capturing one while losing four men. Khunoynazar Assozadeh, a spokesman for the Tajik Interior Ministry, gave an initial statement saying that more than six militants of an unknown organization "attacked a border post near the village of Lakkon, which is in the Isfarah district of Tajikistan's Soghd province, from Kyrgyz territory. They shot and killed two of [our] border guards and wounded another. They also seized 19 automatic rifles and one heavy-caliber machine gun before [returning to] Kyrgyzstan and heading toward [Kyrgyzstan's] Batken region." Sadyrbek Dubanayev, deputy commander of Kyrgyz border forces, disagreed with Assozadeh's account, saying, "Right now [12 p.m., Bishkek time] fighting between those criminals and [our] border guards is continuing. One criminal was killed, and the rest of the group– three or four individuals– are trying to escape toward the mountains." Dubanayev also said militants had attacked Uzbek border guards the night before. The Tajik and Kyrgyz governments later said the militants were members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.[5][6][7]
Tohir Abdujabbor, an expert based in the
Tajik Interior Minister
Police arrested four suspected IMU members in Soghd Province on 14 July. Security forces raided their homes, finding "laptops with files containing texts of a religious and extremist nature calling for jihad, a DVD with a call for 'holy war,' and extremist literature in the Uzbek language." When seven convicted IMU members were sentenced on 22 May, Sughd prosecutor Abdughaffor Qalandarov said the cell had planned to attack sites in Tajikistan and had links to the late IMU leader Juma Namangani. The seven maintained their innocence and said they were tortured to make them confess.[5]
Mahmadsaid Juraqulov, head of the anti-
2010 bombing
The government blamed the IMU for a suicide car bombing of a police station in Khujand on September 3, 2010. Two policemen were killed and 25 were injured.[9]
Hizb ut-Tahrir
Hizb ut-Tahrir activity is primarily in northern Tajikistan near the Fergana Valley. The Tajik government arrested 99 members of Hizb ut-Tahrir in 2005, sixteen of whom were women, and 58 members in 2006. Out of the 92 extremist suspects detained in 2006, 63% were suspected of membership in Hizb ut-Tahrir. The government detained 10% more extremists in 2006 than in 2005.[10][11]
2006
The
2007
On 26 January 2007 a Tajik court found HuT member Makhmudzhon Shokirov guilty of "publicly calling for violent change of the constitutional order in Tajikistan" and "inciting ethnic, racial, and religious enmity," sentencing him to ten and a half years imprisonment. Iso Tavakkalov, judge of the Chkalovsk court in northern Tajikistan, told journalists on 5 April that 31-year-old Akmal Akbarov had been found guilty of violating Articles 307, 187, and 189 of the criminal code for his membership in Hizb ut-Tahrir. The court sentenced him to nine years and nine months of imprisonment and ordered the state to confiscate his property. Tavakkalov said the court considered Akbarov's apology and his three children when sentencing.[11][14]
Sughd bunkers
In late 2006 Tajik police found an underground bunker used by militants in the Sughd Region. The police found banned terrorist literature, audio and video tapes advocating terrorism, instructions on bomb manufacture, instructions on the use of Kalashnikov and other arms, and a map of Sughd. Tajik security forces found another bunker, 15 meters long, along with explosives near Isfara, on 29 January 2007. The Sughd region's Prosecutor General office said it believed Militant members of the HT, the IMU, and possibly other terrorist organizations targeting the governments of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan used the bunker.The Police are interrogating suspects.[16][17]
Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Two Americans, a Swiss and a Dutch national were killed and two others injured in a
Cooperation with NATO member states
The governments of Tajikistan and the United States plan to hold their first joint counter-terrorism drill from 28 January to 9 March 2007 at the military range in Fakhrabad military training center.The
Cooperation with SCO member states
Marzbon-2006
Border guards and officials from the defense, interior, and emergencies ministries, migration officials, and counternarcotics officials of the governments of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Russia held joint counterterrorism and counternarcotics exercises entitled "Marzbon-2006" on 7–8 August 2006.[19]
Xinjiang terror threat
The
President Rahmonov addressed representatives of SCO member states in
The Tajik Defense Ministry held their first joint counterterrorism drill with China, entitled "Cooperation-2006," from 21–23 September 2006 on the Mumirak training grounds, in the Khatlon region, Tajikistan. Defense Ministry spokesman Faridun Muhammadaliev said Chinese special forces worked with Tajik air and land forces with the Tajik army "contributing ground forces artillery, one special forces company of its rapid-reaction-force brigade, and one air forces company." The drill took place under the auspices of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.[22]
Legislation
Several articles of Tajikistan's Criminal Code bar terrorism and other actions connected to revolutionary activities. Article 307 of the code bans "public calls for overthrow of the constitutional regime of the Republic of Tajikistan." Article 187 forbids "organizing a criminal organization." Article 189 prohibits "inciting ethnic, communal or religious hatred."[11]
See also
References
- ^ Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia, page 8
- ^ Tajikistan Civil War Global Security
- ^ Tajik Supreme Court updates terror list RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
- ^ Alleged Islamic militants' trial adjourns in Kyrgyzstan RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
- ^ a b c Analysis: Extremist threats, and doubts, in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
- ^ a b Tajikistan identifies IMU suspects in 2005 blasts RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
- ^ a b Central Asia: Fighting erupts on Tajik-Kyrgyz border RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
- ^ Tajik official says Uzbeks invented regional terror group RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
- ^ Car Bomber Kills 2 in Tajikistan The Moscow Times
- ^ a b Tajik authorities say female leader of banned Islamist group arrested RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
- ^ a b c Hizb ut-Tahrir activist convicted in Tajikistan Interfax-Religion
- ^ Tajik court jails Hizb Ut-Tahrir members RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
- ^ Tajikistan jails two alleged Hizb ut-Tahrir members RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
- ^ a b Hizb-ut-Tahrir activist convicted in Tajikistan Interfax
- ^ Russia says expelled Uzbek member Of terrorist group RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
- ^ Tajik forces 'Find bunker likely used by militants' RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
- ^ Terrorist base found in Tajikistan ITAR-TASS
- ^ Tajikistan to create 'tourist police' after Daesh-claimed attack kills 4
- ^ Security, drugs exercise under way in Central Asia RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
- ^ China: Border security tightened amid 'terrorist infiltration' warning RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
- ^ Tajik president: Early to speak of victory over terrorism in Afghanistan Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine Pravda
- ^ Tajik, Chinese Begin Counterterrorism Drill RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
External links
- McDermott, Roger (2007-03-20). "Rakhmonov lays foundation for security cooperation with Baku". The Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the originalon 2007-09-30.