KHUJAND, January 12, 2015, Asia-Plus — 95 members of various extremist groups and movements were detained by police in Sughd province last year, the chief the Interior Ministry’s office in Sughd, Major-General Sharif Nazarzoda, told journalists in Khujand on January 11.
“Eight terrorist and extremist groups were detected in the area last year and 95 members of extremist parties and movements were arrested, including 43 members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), 37 members of Jamaat Ansarullah, nine members of Jundallah, and five members of Hizb ut-Tahrir,” the Sughd police chief said.
Besides, 102 residents of Sughd suspected of membership in extremist groups and movements are currently wanted by police, Nazarzoda noted.
According to him, 270 members of various extremist parties and movement have been detained in Sughd since a suicide attack that took place in Khujand on September 3, 2010.
We will recall that an explosives-packed car rammed into the building of the Sughd regional organized crime control department, killing two officers and two civilians and wounding 28 people on September 3, 2010. The suicide bomber was local resident Akmal Karimov, who was reportedly trained in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The IMU, which is active in neighboring Afghanistan and in Pakistan, is on the Tajik government’s list of banned terrorist organizations. It is believed to have links with Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.
Jamaat Ansarullah, also known as the Society of Allah’s Soldiers, first came to light in September 2010 when the heretofore unknown organization claimed responsibility for the suicide attack in Khujand. In September 2011, Jamaat Ansarullah issued several videos calling on Tajikistan’s citizens to embrace jihad against “infidels” and urging them to take action to support the implementation of Islamic Sharia law. “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.” Some politicians and experts, however, doubt whether these videos can really be traced back to Jamaat Ansarullah. In May 2012, Tajikistan’s Supreme Court officially banned Jamaat Ansarullah as extremist on the basis of a suit filed by the Prosecutor-General’s Office.
The Supreme Court of Tajikistan formally labeled the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamist group as an extremist organization on March 11, 2008. The ruling followed a request submitted to the court by Tajik chief prosecutor. Although the group has been outlawed in Tajikistan since April 2001, the ruling means even tighter restrictions on the group”s presence on the Internet and its use of media to promote its ideology.
