DUSHANBE, January 18, 2016, Asia-Plus — Former Deputy Defense Minister Abduhalim Nazarzoda and his supporters were masterminding a September deadly mutiny during several months, Shermuhammad Shohiyon the head of the Supreme Court of Tajikistan, announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on January 18.
“Unfortunately, the country’s law enforcement agencies have failed to expose the plot in time,” Shohiyon said, adding that the investigation into the mutiny has been classified as “secret.”
We will recall that former deputy defense minister Abduhalim Nazarzoda and a group of gunmen under his control launched a predawn attack on the main police station in the Vahdat Township east of the Tajik capital on September 4, and clashed later that day with security forces at a Defense Ministry building not far from the Dushanbe International Airport. Nine police officers were killed and six others were wounded in those attacks.
Nazarzoda, his associate Colonel Junaidulloh Umarov, and several other gunmen then fled to the Romit Gorge, adjacent to Vahdat, where security forces were targeting them in a large-scale manhunt.
Nazarzoda and a group of his followers were surrounded by government security forces in the Gusgev area about 110 kilometers east of Dushanbe and were killed on September 16 after refusing to surrender.
Prosecutor General’s Office of Tajikistan launched criminal proceedings against the members of the terrorist group over an attempt to seize power, organize coup d’etat, as well as terror and other crimes.
Tajik authorities have said mutinous general Abduhalim Nazarzoda was allegedly linked to the banned Islamic Revival Party (IRP).
In a statement released on September 17, the Prosecutor-General”s Office says Abduhalim Nazarzoda and his followers were acting on orders by IRP leader Muhiddin Kabiri, who is currently in self-imposed exile.
