DUSHANBE, July 24, 2013, Asia-Plus – Today morning, at 4:00 am, a march was held in Khorog, the capital of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) to honor the victims of last year’s events.
300 people participated in the march; they brought flowers to the places of tragedy in Khorog’s UPD and Khlebzavod neighborhoods and lit candles.
According to Khorog residents, dozens of civilians were killed during the government military operation carried out in Khorog last summer.
Facebook activists propose to hold a minute of silence today at 10:00 pm to honor the victims of the Khorog events.
We will recall that the clashes began in Khorog on July 24, 2012 at 4:00 am when government forces launched a military operation against what it called “militants” following the murder of the regional security chief Abdullo Nazarov, who was stabbed to death on July 21, 2012. The operation lasted for several weeks.
The authorities blamed Tolib Ayombekov, a former warlord from the civil war who had been deputy chief of border unit in the Ishkashim district until recently, for the murder of the regional security chief Abdullo Nazarov. Hundreds of troops have reportedly poured into Khorog to hunt down Ayombekov. Authorities also accused Ayombekov of drug-trading and smuggling tobacco and precious stones.
Tolib Ayombekov denied the accusations and said the government used Nazarov”s death as a pretext for cementing its grip over Gorno Badakhshan. He surrendered to the authorities on August 12.
Another former filed commander of the United Tajik Opposition (UTO) in Gorno Badakhshan, Imomnazar Imomnazarov, was murdered by unknown assailants in his home in Khorog on August 22.
