DUSHANBE, October 15, 2010, Asia-Plus – Tajik authorities have admitted existence of a new extremist group – Jamaat Ansarullah – that claimed responsibility for the suicide car bombing in Khujand.
Sughd chief prosecutor Yusuf Rahmonov told reporters in Khujand on October 14 that five members of Jamaat Ansarullah have been detained to this day.
According to him, it has been established that Jamaat Ansarullah, which is a terrorist group, exists, and its members were really involved in the suicide car bombing in Khujand. This group is part of the radical wing of the Islamic Movement of Tajikistan (IMU), the prosecutor added.
We will recall that unknown Islamist group that called itself Jamaat Ansarullah in Tajikistan, on September 9 claimed responsibility for the suicide car bombing in Khujand. In a statement on the unofficial Islamist website www.kavkazcenter.com, it said a single suicide bomber drove a car into the police station in Khujand on September 3 and blew himself up. Jamaat Ansarullah in Tajikistan said in the statement: “The operation was carried out in response to the killing and humiliation of our brothers and simple Muslims, which took place behind the walls of this place accursed by Allah.”
As it had been reported earlier, in a report released at a news conference in Khujand, Sughd chief prosecutor revealed on October 13 that 14 other persons had been detained on suspicion of having been involved in the Khujand suicide bomb attack. Rahmonov noted yesterday that nine of them were released after questioning.
We will recall that four police officers were killed and 26 others were injured as suicide bomber drove a vehicle packed with explosives into the office of the Sughd regional body empowered to combat organized crime at around 8:00 am of September 3. The blast destroyed parts of the building of the Sughd anti organized crime division and shattered windows in surrounding buildings. The suicide bomber reportedly drove the explosive packed car with high speed into the gated compound of the anti-organized crime division – as the gate was closing after two police cars entered the complex – and the car exploded.
The department of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) in Sughd province announced on October 5 that Akmal Karimov, whom it identified as a member of IMU, carried out the suicide bomb attack in Khujand. Security officials noted that three suspects had been detained during an investigation. One of them is Firdavs Karimov, the suspected suicide bomber”s brother.
