DUSHANBE/KHOROG, April 22, 2010, Asia-Plus — Over the first three months, Tajik law enforcement authorities have confiscated 445 illegally possessed firearms from the population, Deputy Interior Minister, Ramazon Rahimov, announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on April 21.
According to him, a totaled included 83 assault rifles Kalashnikov, 45 pistols, 101 carbines, 49 rifles, 150 smooth-bore guns and a large amount of bullets of different caliber.
In all, 32,340 firearms have been confiscated throughout the country since 1994, when president’s decree on voluntary handover of weapons was issued, the deputy minister noted.
In the meantime, the deputy prosecutor of Gorno Badakhshan, Yoraziz Ghulomaliyev, told reporters in Khorog yesterday that 50 firearms, including 8 assault rifles Kalashnikov, 5 pistols, 20 rifles and a large amount of bullets of different caliber, have been confiscated or voluntarily handed over to local law enforcement agencies in the region in the first quarter of this year.
Only one criminal case has been instituted on the charge of illegal possession of weapons, while the remaining cases have been qualified as the voluntary handover or the detection of arms caches, he said.
“Over the report period, two crimes using weapons have been reported in the city of Khorog and two persons have been wounded in those crimes,” Ghulomaliyev added.
