DUSHANBE, August 5, 2009, Asia-Plus — An alleged supporter of the rebellious Colonel Mahmoud Khudoyberdiev has been reportedly arrested in the Hissor district.
According to the Ministry of Interior (MoI), the 48-year-old Taghoymurod Ibrohimov was detained in Hissor, some 17 kilometers west of Dushanbe, on August 4 on suspicion of having been supporter of the rebellious Colonel Mahmoud Khudoyberdiev, who was behind a failed 1998 coup attempt in Tajikistan.
The source at a MoI said, “Ibrohimov too part in criminal raids made by the armed group of Mahmoud Khudoyberdiev in January 1996 and January-August 1997.”
According to Tajik law enforcement authorities, seven former members of the illegal armed group of the fugitive Colonel Mahmoud Khudoyberdiev have been detained in Tajikistan since the beginning of this year. They face charges of having committed 33 crimes, including 13 killings, 4 hostage taking cases, as well as banditry, terrorist, etc.
Tajikistan has long sought the capture of Khudoyberdiev, a former Tajik army officer who led about 1,000 fighters in a 1998 attack against government forces in the Sughd province.
