DUSHANBE, November 14, Asia-Plus – Minister of Interiors Mahmadnazar Solehov who has accompanied President Rahmon on his visit to Sughd is returning to Dushanbe in connection with today morning’s blast outside the Kokhi Vahdat State Complex, according to the Ministry of Interior (MoI).
A high-ranking officer with a MoI told Asia-Plus the minister is to control investigation into the incident. According to him, the head of the State Committee for National Security Khairiddin Abdurahimov, who is responsible for providing security of the president during festivities in Sughd to mark the 15th anniversary of the restoration of constitutional order in the country, remained in Khujand. “As far as the president is concerned, he is not going to break off its visit to Sughd,” the source said.
Asked about capacity of the explosive device, the source said the explosive device’s capacity equaled some 500 grams of TNT.
We will recall that the explosion occurred in the rear yard of the Kokhi Vahdat State Complex today morning, at around 8:10 a.m. The blast was quite powerful that it blew out the windows of Kokhi Vahdat complex.
The source at the Ministry of Interior told Asia-Plus that the Kokhi Vahdat guard found a package in the rear yard of the complex and it blew up in his hands. As a result of the blast, the guard was killed.
The complex guard saw a plastic package lying near a wall, he picked it up and the bag exploded in his hands. The guard died instantly.
The Kokhi Vahdat State Complex is usually used for holding various government ceremonial events and international conference. Today morning, it should have hosted a regional consultative meeting on disaster risk reduction in Central Asia staged by the European Commission. In connection with the blast the conference was adjourned to 3:00 .m.
The Dushanbe prosecutor Qurbonali Muhabbatov said that the explosion was a terrorist act and the country’s law enforcement agencies have launched an investigation under a corresponding article of the Criminal Code.
