DUSHANBE, November 10, 2015, Asia-Plus – More than 10 supporters of ex-Minister of Emergencies Mirzo Ziyoev who was killed in the course of a special operation on disarming illegal armed group in Tavildara district in 2009, have been detained following testimonies by members of the armed group of the mutinous general Abduhalim Nazarzoda, who was killed in a special security operation in the Romit Gorge on September 16, according to
Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service
.
RFE/RL’s Tajik Service
, known locally as
Ozodi
, says one of Ziyoev’s supporters, Idibek Mahmadov, blew himself up with a hand grenade in the Nourobod district (Rasht Valley) on November 5.
Nodir Hakimov, who is close to the detainees, told
RFE/RL’s Tajik Service
that five of the detainees lived in the village of Sangvor and two others were from the Childara village in the Tavildara district while the others were residents of the Panj district.
They were reportedly under surveillance by police for more than a month following testimonies by members of the armed group of Abduhalim Nazarzoda and firearms were confiscated from them.
Ziyoev’s supporters reportedly tried to increase their numbers after liquidation of Nazarzoda’s group and make revolt.
The detainees have been transported to Dushanbe.
We will recall that ex-Minister of Emergencies Mirzo Ziyoev was killed in the course of a special operation on disarming illegal armed group in the Tavildara district (Rasht Valley) on July 11, 2009.
In summer of 2009, illegal armed groups clashed with police in Tavildara district on two separate occasions. Tajik officials reported in early July 2009 that Mirzo Ziyoev had been arrested because of his support for armed groups suspected of involvement in terrorism and drug trafficking. Tajik authorities announced shortly afterward that Ziyoev was killed in ambush by his supporters on his way to negotiate the disarming of insurgents. His supporters deny any responsibility for his death.
In July 2009, Tajik law enforcement forces were fighting insurgents in the area for several weeks. Some 50 insurgents were detained and 11 others were killed. Tajik authorities conducted what they said was an anti-drug operation in the area.
Mirzo Ziyoev was born in 1960 in the village of Khojai Khiloz in Panj district, Khatlon province. In 1980, he finished the Geological Technical Secondary School in Dushanbe. On finishing the technical school Ziyoev worked as irrigator in Panj district until 1992.
Mirzo Ziyoev was one of the top military commanders of the United Tajik Opposition (UTO) during Tajikistan”s 1992-97 civil war. After the 1997 General Peace Agreement, he was eventually given his ministerial post as part of the power-sharing deal that ended the civil war. The ministry was disbanded in 2006.
