DUSHANBE, January 18, 2013, Asia-Plus — Tajik security forces have killed one alleged member of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and arrested nine other suspects in the country”s north.
According to Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service, Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimov told journalists in Dushanbe on January 18 that one policeman was killed in the special operation near the border with Uzbekistan.
The operation took place over the past few days.
Rahimov added that terrorist and extremist groups might step up their activities as the country”s presidential election, set for November, draws near.
The IMU, which says it wants to establish an Islamic caliphate in Central Asia, has been banned in Tajikistan and other Central Asian countries.
It has moved its operations to neighboring Afghanistan in recent years.
Tajikistan saw a spike in militant activity in 2010 that led to the deaths of dozens of troops.
