A TV report on the situation in the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) prepared by the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) was shown by Tajik national TV channels yesterday evening.
The SCNS, in particular, notes that a special operation carried out in the Porshnev jamoat of the Shugnan district on the night of October 2 led to the seizure of 25 kilograms of narcotic drugs and four Kalashnikov assailant rifles. The trespassers reportedly managed to escape.
The SCNS warns that if the GBAO authorities and residents do not carry out a serious fight against organized crime and trafficking in weapons and drugs, “hundreds of people can perish from this evil.”
According to the report, more than 1,500 firearms have been confiscated from the GBAO population over the past five years and 235 local residents have been jailed for illegal possession of weapons.
The SCNS claims that some groups in the GBAO still have a certain amount of weapons.
Voluntary surrender of weapons ongoing in GBAO
Meanwhile, the process of voluntary surrender of weapons is reportedly going on in the region. It has begun after the visit of the president to the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region that took place in mid-September. The head of state harshly criticized the work of local law enforcement authorities and gave them one-month deadline to address the situation in the region, especially in Khorog, and implied that more robust measures could be adopted if he was dissatisfied with the results.
Concerning troops brought to Khorog for a ceremonial parade, Emomali Rahmon indicated that even the military could be deployed.
He said without naming them that around five or six “criminals” were at the root of the region’s ills. He claimed that local residents were suffering because of the investment and tourism potential lost as a result of this sinister presence.
Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service on October 5 quoted acting GBAO governor Yodgor Fayzov as saying that the informal leaders had pledged to help combat drug trafficking and the dissemination of unlawfully held firearms.
According to the GBAO law enforcement authorities, at least 100 firearms have been volunteered to date.
