DUSHANBE, July 10, 2015, Asia-Plus — Tajikistan”s official news agency,
Khovar
, has launched an “information war” against Islamic State (IS), pushing back against the group”s propaganda by publishing reports about its gory killings, enslavement of women, and other abuses,
Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service
reports.
Zarobiddin Qosimi, who was recently appointed as director of
Khovar
, told RFE/RL’s Tajik service,
Radio Ozodi
, that the state news agency is “trying to make a greater contribution to the information war” by making citizens aware of the “inhumane acts” perpetrated by IS.
“I think that the publication of this material must influence readers” thinking,” Qosimi said. “When they see with their own eyes the effects of war, they will draw their own conclusions.”
Khovar”s
decision to talk about the dangers of joining IS and the militant group”s atrocities comes amid growing fears in the region about IS recruitment.
According to official figures, over 400 Tajiks are fighting alongside IS and over 120 Tajik citizens have been killed in Syria and Iraq.
Tajik militants in IS are visible on social media and various militants have appeared in propaganda videos, including a recent one threatening to overthrow the government in Dushanbe.
The “information war” is the latest in a series of tactics that Tajikistan has adopted in an attempt to combat recruitment to IS and avoid blowback from returning fighters, including declaring it a banned terror group and revoking the citizenship of Tajiks who fight abroad.
Tajikistan”s “information war” reflects the country”s fears that Islamic State is using the Internet and particularly social media to radicalize and recruit citizens.
IS disseminates gory videos on the Internet in order to attract “uneducated youth,” said Khudoberdi Kholiqnazar, the head of the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of Tajikistan.
“By showing the true face of the extremists, we are waging an information war against them,” Kholiqnazar told
Radio Ozodi
. “We also need to make young people understand that this is a senseless fight and that joining it is meaningless.”
Khovar
director Qosimi agrees that it is Tajikistan”s youth who need to be made to see the reality of IS.
As well as ramping up anti-IS reports on state media, Tajikistan has attempted to stifle IS propaganda by blocking websites relating to 16 groups it says are extremist, including IS.
