After denial, the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) of Tajikistan has confirmed that a report released by Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service on November 12 about the plot to attack the Russian military base in Dushanbe was accurate.
The SCNS chief spokesman confirmed that the authorities arrested 12 people suspected of plotting a terrorist attack on the Russian military base in Dushanbe in early November.
Speaking at parliamentary hearing, First Deputy Chief of the SCNS, Lieutenant-General M. Umarov, reportedly noted that investigation into the case of terrorist is nearing completion and will move to a court soon.
According to him, they have been recruited by the Islamic State (IS) terror group via Internet. They have taken an online oath and were plotting a terrorist attack on the Russian military base in Dushanbe, SCNS deputy chief noted.
“The terrorist attack was prevented and its organizers were arrested at the apartment of one members of this group a week ago,” Umarov said.
Recall, Dilshod Abualimov, a chief spokesman for the SCNS, told Asia-Plus yesterday by phone that a report issued by RFE/RL’s Tajik Service the day before was untrue.
Meanwhile, he later confirmed the report, saying that he did not have “concrete information” when he dined it
In the report released on November 12,, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service quoted sources close to security authorities as saying that 12 alleged members of the IS terror group were apprehended near the Russian military base in Dushanbe on November 4.
The sources said the group was led by a man identified as Suhrob from Vahdat Township, who authorities allege has fought alongside IS militants in Syria.
The Russian military base deployed in Tajikistan is Russia's largest non-naval military facility outside the country. It was officially opened in Tajikistan in 2004 under a previous agreement, which was signed in 1993, and hosts Russia’s largest military contingent deployed abroad.
A total of some 7,000 Russian troops are now stationed at two military facilities collectively known as the 201st military base – in Dushanbe and Bokhtar (formerly Qurghon Teppa, some 100 kilometers from Dushanbe.
