On December 14, President Emomali Rahmon attended an official opening ceremony of a new building of the Tajik Alpha Group in Khatlon province.
The Tajik president’s official website says the new facility has office rooms for employees of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS), classrooms for training, a meeting hall, a bedroom, a canteen and other technical support rooms.
The building of the special anti-terrorist unit reportedly consists of modern industrial infrastructure, and favorable working conditions are provided for the employees of this power-wielding institution of the country.
The Tajik Alpha Group is an elite unit of the State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan, tasked to conduct counter-terrorism operations in Tajikistan. The unit is modeled after the Soviet KGB's Alpha Group. The 2011 International Crisis Group report described the Alphas as "the only Tajik military unit with serious counter-insurgency expertise."
The Alphas are often dispatched to the different areas of Tajikistan ahead of visits by the country's president. They are also the first to be dispatched during the sporadic outbreaks of violence throughout the country.
