August 1 – The authorities reportedly began partially withdrawing troops from Khorog, the capital of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO). The clashes began in Khorog on July 24 when government forces launched a military operation against what it called “militants” following the murder of the regional security chief Abdullo Nazarov on July 21;
– Internet access to the news agency Asia-Plus was cut off again. Tajik Internet providers blocked access following an order from the Communications Service under the Government of Tajikistan. Internet access to Asia-Plus has been cut off for the third time over the past three months;
– President Emomali Rahmon signed a number of laws adopted by parliament this year. Among them is also the law requiring amendments to the RT Law “On Combating Terrorism.” According to the amendments made to the law, the list of persons suspected of being involved in terrorism will be prepared by the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) and the SCNS will have the right to frozen their accounts and arrest their movable property and real estate.
August 2 – A cache containing seven sacks of narcotic drug that tested positive to cannabis weighing 101 kilograms was found in the area between the villages of Kisht and Dashti Jum, Shouroobod district in Khatlon province;
– The Islamic Revival Party (IRP) applied to the Prosecutor-General Sherkhon Salimzoda, requesting to launch investigation into the murder of Sabzali Mamadrizoyev, the head of IRP’s organization for Gorno Badakhshan.
August 6 – Mavzouna Choriyeva, the 19 year-old female boxer from Kulob, won a bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
August 7 – The Prosecutor-General’s Office announced instituting criminal proceedings against Yodgor Mamadaslamov, former warlord from the civil war, and Tolib Ayombekov, former warlord from the civil war and ex-deputy commander of the border unit in GBAO’s Ishkashim district, and their immediate relatives;
– A court Dushanbe’s Sino district sentenced Faridoun Umarov, the head of the department for combating drug trafficking (drug police) at the police station in Khatlon’s Farkhor district, to seven years in prison. The sentence followed his conviction on charges of drug trafficking. Faridoun Umarov, who is also known under the nickname “Panther,” is the brother of the first deputy head of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS), Mansour Umarov. He was detained in January this year on suspicion of involvement in drug trafficking. Three other men were tried along with Umarov in the same court. The ringleader Rustam Hoitov, also known under the nickname “Hummer,” was sentenced to 24 years in prison and two other persons – Qobil Davlatov and Sayvali Ismoilov – got the jail terms of twelve years and seven years respectively.
August 7-9 – A Russian Ministry of Defense delegation, led by the Deputy Defense Minister in charge of international cooperation, Anatoly Antonov, was in Dushanbe on a working visit. Issues related to the Russian military base’s presence in Tajikistan were a major topic of the delegation’s discussions with high-ranking Tajik state officials. The talks were held behind closed doors.
August 10 – One person was killed and at least three others injured at a checkpoint not far from Khorog, the capital of Gorno Badakhshan after soldiers opened fire at a vehicle. Police said the driver of a car allegedly failed to stop at the checkpoint and did not react to a warning shot. One of those injured alter died in hospital;
– Two of those suspected of involvement in the murder of the GBAO regional security chief surrendered to the law enforcement authorities. An official website of the Ministry of Interior (MoI) says their names are not disclosed in the interest of investigation. Meanwhile, Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service quoted a high-ranking officer from the GBAO police directorate as saying that those who surrendered to the law enforcement authorities are the Tolib Aymobekov’s brother Oqil Ayombekov and his driver Hamza Gulnazar.
August 11 – Khorog residents staged a rally demanding the removal of the checkpoints. The rally took place after a soldier on duty shot dead two passengers of a vehicle at a checkpoint.
August 12 – Tolib Ayombekov, a one-time warlord suspected of involvement in the murder of the GBAO regional security chief, surrendered to the law enforcement authorities. Prior to his surrender, Ayombekov told the GBAO television station that he wanted to give himself up along with several of his supporters for the sake of peace in the region. Officials in Gorno-Badakhshan said that Ayombekov had given himself up on the condition that he would be given a chance to prove his innocence in a free and fair trial in Khorog.
August 13 – President Emomali Rahmon signed a decree on measures aimed at strengthening the level of population”s social security and increasing the minimum wage, public sector wage, pensions and allowances [scholarships]. The minimum monthly wage in all sectors of the country”s economy is to be set at 200.00 somoni from September 1, 2013.
August 14 – Law enforcement officials in Tajikistan announced the arrest of two other suspects in the murder of Kholmumin Safarov, the brother-in-law of Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon.
August 16 – Twelve persons were diagnosed with typhoid in Khorog. Tajik sanitary authorities claim that the disease in Khorog was allegedly caused by dirty water.
August 19 – Tajikistan marked Idi Ramazon or Eid ul-Fitr, a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.
August 21 – Imomnazar Imomnazarov, a former warlord from the civil war and informal leader of Khorog, was slain in an attack on his home. Government officials have denied any involvement;
– A 10-year-old boy was killed and two other youths were injured when a shell exploded near the Mumirak test field belonging to a Russian military base in Khatlon province. The boys found the shell as they were reportedly helping their parents harvest wheat.
August 22-23 – Several thousand people gathered in a central square in Khorog, protesting the murder of Imomnazar Imomnazarov and demanding that the government withdraw forces from the area and dismiss the region”s top official. Two of the demonstrators were wounded on August 22 when they reportedly joined a small group that attempted to force their way into the administrative building.
August 23 – The government forces, intermediary commission, members of the Khorog legislature, local religious leaders and activists of Khorog signed an agreement, under the terms of which extra government troops deployed in Gorno Badakhshan pull out of the region. The agreement was signed following two days of protests by thousands of residents of Khorog;
– The Supreme Court of Tajikistan sentenced Ravshanbek Mirzoahmadov, former chief of the Operative Directorate at the Drugs Control Agency (DCA), to 18 years in prison. The sentence followed his conviction on charges of abuse of office, drug smuggling, and hiding and forging documents. Two other men who were tried along with Mirzoahmadov got a jail term of sixteen years each for their involvement in drug smuggling. Mirzoahmadov was arrested in March along with several officers of the Interior Ministry and two other employees of the counter narcotics agency.
August 23-24 – Tajik President Emomali Rahmon was on an official visit to Turkmenistan. The visit resulted in signing of seven cooperation documents.
August 24 – The first stage of withdrawal of extra government forces from Khorog and the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) reportedly began;
– Tajik Deputy Foreign Minister, Nizomiddin Zohidov met here with Ms. Antje Linderts, Special Envoy for Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia, Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany. The sides reportedly discussed issues related to bilateral relations between Tajikistan and Germany, the current situation in the region and Afghanistan as well as perspectives for development of the situation after withdrawal of international coalition forces from Afghanistan in 2014.
August 25 – Communication lines to Khorog were restored. We will recall that communication lines to Khorog were cut off by order of the communications service agency on July 24 since a special operation targeting illegal armed formation was launched in Khorog;
– Tajik President Emomali Rahmon received German Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development Dirk Niebel. State and prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Germany were a major topic of the meeting. A special attention was reportedly paid to trade and economic cooperation between the two countries and transit transport issues with regard to wide opportunities of markets of Afghanistan and Pakistan and other countries of Central and South Asia.
August 26 – Five persons were killed as a car fell into the Fon-Daryo River in the northern Sughd province.
August 28 – Senior representatives from the Drug Control Agency (DCA) under the President of Tajikistan and the State Drug Control Service of Kyrgyzstan met in Khujand, the capital of the Tajik northern Sughd province to discuss cooperation in combating drug trafficking in border areas. It was the second meeting of the working group (WG) since a protocol on cooperation between the two counternarcotics agencies on combating drug trafficking in border areas was signed in the Kyrgyz city of Osh on May 6, 2011.
August 30 – Tajik President Emomali Rahmon attended the 16th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Tehran, Iran. On the sidelines of the Nonaligned summit, Rahmon held talks with Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Tehran;
– The trial of 15 suspected members of banned Islamist organization Jamaat Ansarullah began at Tajikistan”s Supreme Court. It is the first trial of suspected group members since it was banned in May. The trial is being held behind closed doors. Most of those on trial were arrested during counterterrorist operations in the Rasht Valley (eastern Tajikistan) region last year.
