KHUJAND, October 17, 2014, Asia-Plus — The 36-year-old woman from the northern Sughd province, who is an active member of the outlawed Jamaat Ansarullah group, is currently fighting alongside antigovernment groups in Afghanistan, an official source at the Sughd prosecutor’s office told Asia-Plus in an interview.
“Last year, the 36-year-old Sh.M. from the Spitamen district together with her children left for Russia where her husband was working as a migrant worker,” said the source. “In Russia, she met her fellow-villager, who was an active member of Jamaat Ansarullah. Sh.M. joined Jamaat Ansarullah and together with her fellow-villagers she went to Afghanistan in 2013 and she is currently fighting there alongside antigovernment groups.”
According to him, the Sughd prosecutor’s office has instituted criminal proceedings against Sh.M. under the provisions of two articles of Tajikistan’s Penal Code: Article 187 (parts 1 and 2) – organization of a criminal group; and Article 401 (1) — participation in foreign armed conflicts; an investigation is under way.
We will recall that Sughd law enforcement authority have recently detained 10 local residents who were trying to leave the country to join jihadists in Syria. Nine of them are residents of the Spitamen district and one is resident of the Panjakent district. All of them are ethnic Uzbeks aged 20 to 30. Two of them were detained on September 26 and the remaining eight people were detained following their testimonies.
The Supreme Court of Tajikistan banned the activity of ‘Jamaat Ansarullah’ group (‘Allah Associates Society’) in Tajikistan in early May 2012 on the basis of a suit filed by the Prosecutor-General’s Office. The decision seeks to protect the constitutional order and security in the country. The court also banned distribution of printed, audio and video materials and two websites –
www.irshod.net
and
www.irshod.com
– of the organization.
First reports about Jamaat Ansarullah appeared in September 2010 when it took responsibility for terror attack on September 3, 2010 in Khujand close to the Regional Organized Crime Unit when three police officers were killed in a suicide bombing.
In summer 2011, the organization posted a “jihad” appeal in the internet. “Those who pray namaz, who follow fasting rules but support democracy are nonbelievers,” a man on the video said. “Allah is killing nonbelievers by our hands and, thus, blesses us.”
