DUSHANBE, February 23, 2016, Asia-Plus – Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reports fourteen residents of Khatlon’s Yovon district have been detained for questioning after they clicked a “like” button on an Islamic extremist video that had been posted to the online Odnoklassniki social network.
An official in the Yovon district told RFE/RL’s Tajik Service on February 22 that the men were detained and questioned as part of an investigation into the video, which called on Tajik men to join the Islamic State (IS) militant group.
Ten of the detained men were released after an interrogation, while four remained in custody on February 22.
Tajik authorities say at least 1,000 Tajik citizens have traveled to Iraq and Syria to fight alongside IS militants.
Tajik officials also have raised concerns because the IS recruiting efforts appear to be attracting Tajiks at an increasing rate.
Authorities in other former Soviet republics of Central Asia also say hundreds of their citizens have fought alongside IS militants and other extremists in Syria and Iraq.
