DUSHANBE, September 26, 2012, Asia-Plus — Tajikistan”s Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimov says militants who give up their arms and cooperate with investigators will not face prosecution, Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reports.
Rahimov reportedly rejected reports about the existence of a “blacklist” to prosecute alleged participants in recent clashes between security forces and police.
A special operation conducted in July by security forces in Khorog, the capital the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) left some 70 people dead.
According to RFE/RL, clashes between troops and militants, fuelled by the killing of a local security chief, lasted until late August.
Local citizens claim the majority of those killed in the clashes were ordinary people, not militants.
Last week, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon on a visit to the restive region said there would be “no more talks with militants.”
