Tajikistan Will Not Recognize The Taliban Government In Afghanistan

RFE: Majlis Podcast: Tajikistan Takes A Hard Line On The Taliban  

Tajikistan was the only one of Afghanistan’s neighbors that did not engage in talks with the Taliban prior to the militant group’s conquest of most of Afghanistan. 

Dushanbe kept quiet about events in Afghanistan before the fall of Kabul and for many days after, but when Tajik President Emomali Rahmon met with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on August 25, Rahmon said his country would not recognize a Taliban government that did not include representatives from minority groups, naming specifically Afghanistan’s Tajik population. 

But even before Rahmon's comments, there were signs that Tajikistan did not welcome the Taliban’s successes in Afghanistan and was loathe to ever engage with the Afghan militant group.  

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WNU Editor: Just as Pakistan was a safe haven for the Taliban, Tajikistan can become a safe haven for Afghanistan's Tajik rebel groups. 

Update: Russia is showing a keen interest on what is happening here .... Putin hopes Russia, Tajikistan will deepen bilateral dialogue — Kremlin (TASS). More here .... President Putin to visit Tajikistan (AKI Press). 

There is even talk of this .... Moscow-led security bloc’s troops may be sent to Tajikistan, says Belarusian official (TASS). 

More News On Tajikistan's Relations with Afghanistan  

Tajikistan Won't Recognize a Taliban-Only Afghan Government -- The Diplomat  

Tajik Group Volunteers to Join Panjshir Resistance -- National Interest  

Tajikistan Posthumously Honors Afghan Rebels in Rebuke to Taliban -- National Interest  

Tajikistan: President demands Tajik role in running Afghanistan -- Eurasianet

U.S. Is Helping Tajikistan Secure A Portion Of Its Border With Afghanistan To Help Combat Security Threats

FOX News: Biden helps secure Tajikistan’s border amid US border crisis  

Arizona AG says 'people that mean America harm are crossing the southern border' 

The United States is helping Tajikistan secure a portion of its border with Afghanistan to help combat security threats in the region since the U.S. troop withdrawal from Kabul Monday, despite the ongoing crisis at the U.S. border that’s seeing thousands of migrants pour into the country every day. 

The U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe has launched a project to construct new facilities for a Border Service detachment along the Tajik-Afghan-Uzbek border, allowing Tajikistan’s border troops to deploy more quickly in response to threats in the region, the embassy said in a press release Wednesday.  

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WNU Editor: The Tajiks are sounding the alarm .... Interior Minister Says Tajikistan Unable To Host Many Afghan Refugees (RFE). More here .... Tajikistan sounds alarm over impending Afghan refugee crisis, warns of stream of desperate people after fall of Kabul to Taliban (RT). 

As for the U.S. helping another country secure its borders while ignoring its own border crisis. What can I say. You get the government that you vote for.

Tajikistan Deploys 20,000 Reservists To The Border With Afghanistan. Seeks Help From Russian-Led Bloc

President Rahmon, center, addressing a security council meeting on July 5. (Photo: Tajik presidential administration)  

RFE: Tajikistan Reportedly Calls On Allies For Help With Security Challenges From Afghanistan  

Tajikistan has appealed to members of a Russian-led military alliance of ex-Soviet states for help in dealing with security challenges emerging from neighboring Afghanistan, according to media reports. 

Dushanbe's call came hours after Moscow vowed to defend its Central Asian allies threatened by the intensifying violence in Afghanistan. 

The Taliban has captured large swaths of territory in northern Afghanistan as foreign troops exit the country, with over 1,000 Afghan civilians and servicemen fleeing to neighboring Tajikistan in recent days.

Tajik authorities say that two-thirds of the 1,357-kilometer border with Afghanistan is under Taliban control and they are preparing for an influx of refugees to enter the country. They say they are already providing Afghan refugees with food and shelter.  

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WNU Editor: The Taliban are saying that they are not a threat to Tajikistan .... As Tajikistan mobilizes 20,000 troops, Taliban says it poses no threat (Eurasianet). 

More News On Tajikistan Responding To The Crisis On The Afghan Border  

Tajikistan mobilizes 20,000 reservists to bolster border with Afghanistan -- The Hill  

Tajikistan bolsters border after Afghan troops flee Taliban offensive -- Axios  

Tajikistan asks Russian-led military bloc to help it deal with Afghan fallout- RIA -- Daily Mail  

Tajikistan seeks help from Russian-led bloc as Taliban scales up fighting -- TRT World  

Tajikistan asks Russia-led bloc for help on Afghan border -- Reuters  

Afghanistan Neighbors Raise Alarm With Russia Over Taliban Advance -- Bloomberg

Ceasefire Between Kyrgyzstan And Tajikistan Continues To hold

RFE: Cease-Fire Said Holding After Worst Violence In Decades On Kyrgyz-Tajik Border 

Both sides have reported calm on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border as a day-old cease-fire appeared to be holding and more than 40 people were being mourned from some of the worst clashes in decades on their disputed frontier. 

A joint Kyrgyz-Tajik military commission reported finding an unexploded rocket embedded in a residence in the area as the group inspected the scene of 24 hours of intense violence on April 28-29. 

Kyrgyzstan is observing two days of official mourning for 34 people who died in Batken Province. One hundred and seventy-eight more were reported injured on the Kyrgyz side, seven of them still in grave condition.  

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WNU Editor: It is going to take a long time before the bitterness diminishes .... Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan: Officials talk peace, but popular moods still raw (Eurasianet) 

More News On The Border Conflict Between Kyrgyzstan And Tajikistan  

Kyrgyzstan says ceasefire with Tajikistan holding after clashes -- Al Jazeera  

Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan agree to withdraw troops -- DW  

Kyrgyzstan & Tajikistan agree complete cessation of hostilities after border flare-up prompted by dispute over access to water -- RT  

Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan: Images of destruction after border clashes -- BBC

ISIS Launched A Failed Attack On A Tajikistan Border Outpost With Uzbekistan

DW: Tajikistan: 17 killed in border outpost attack

Twenty masked gunmen launched a failed attack on a Tajik outpost on the border with Uzbekistan. The rare attack was quashed when border forces launched a counter operation and killed most of the raiders.

At least 17 people were killed in an overnight raid by armed men on an outpost on the border between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, Tajik authorities said on Wednesday.

"An armed group of 20 unknown masked individuals attacked a border outpost … using firearms," said Tajikistan's national security committee, according to Russian state-run news agency TASS.

Tajikistan's border forces said the assailants were members of the "Islamic State" (IS) militant group in Afghanistan.

At least five of the gunmen were detained and later provided critical intelligence during interrogations, authorities said.

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WNU Editor: I agree with this analysis .... Reported Attack In Tajikistan Could Have Broad Implications For Central Asia (RFE).

More News On Today's ISIS Attack On A Tajikistan Border Outpost With Uzbekistan

Many dead in Tajikistan 'firefight with IS' -- BBC
Fifteen IS jihadists killed in Tajikistan border attack -- AFP
Tajikistan: 17 killed in attack on border checkpoint -- Eurasianet
ISIL blamed for deadly attack on Tajik border outpost -- Al Jazeera

Islamic State Militants Riot In Tajikistan Prison: 3 Prison Guards And 29 Prisoners Killed

The prison in Vakhdat, 17 kilometres (11 miles) east of the capital Dushanbe, holds 1,500 inmates

DW: Islamic State militants riot in Tajik prison, dozens dead

Three prison guards and 29 inmates have been killed after a riot broke out at a high-security prison in Tajikistan. It is the second deadly prison disturbance in the country in the space of six months.

Convicted "Islamic State" (IS) militants detained in a high-security prison in the Tajik city of Vahdat killed three guards and five fellow prisoners, the country's justice ministry said on Monday.

The incident occurred late on Sunday after the militants, armed with knives, started a riot in the facility, which houses 1,500 inmates, including people convicted of religious extremism.

The prisoners first stabbed to death three guards, and then five other inmates "in order to intimidate" the others, the ministry said. Security forces killed 24 militants and restored order in the prison, which is located on the outskirts of the capital, Dushanbe.

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More News On Islamic State Militants Riot In Tajikistan Prison

Dozens killed in riot at Tajikistan prison holding Isis militants -- Guardian/Reuters
'IS members kill dozens' in Tajikistan prison riot -- BBC
Prison riot in Tajikistan leaves 32 dead -- AFP
ISIL inmates instigate deadly riot in Tajik prison -- Al Jazeera

Russia May Deploy Soldiers On The Border Of Tajikistan With Afghanistan: CSTO

Khaama Press: Russia may deploy soldiers on Tajikistan’s border with Afghanistan: CSTO

The Russian forces may return on Tajikistan’s border with Afghanistan amid fears the deteriorating security situation may affect the security of Central Asian countries, it has been reported.
A source close to the Secretary General of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) has said the return of Russian forces on Afghanistan-Tajikistan border is not unlikely.
According to the Russian newspaper – kommersant, the Russian forces may return once they receive a request from the government of Tajikistan.
The source further added Tajikistan however has only requested CSTO’s technical assistance so far.

WNU Editor: Russia President Putin is slated to arrive in Tajikistan tomorrow .... Putin To Visit Tajikistan For CSTO Meeting on 14-15 September (Russian Peacekeeper). Update .... he has arrived .... Putin In Tajikistan To Attend CSTO Summit (Eurasia Review).

More News On The Crisis In Tajikistan

Tajikistan's Renegade General Still At Large As Putin Set To Arrive -- Eurasianet.org
Russia to back Tajikistan in crushing mutiny -- Blouin News
Russia Fully Supports Tajik Efforts to Suppress Destabilizing Attempts -- Sputnik
Russia's Putin to offer help to crisis-hit Tajikistan on visit next week: Kremlin -- Reuters
Roundtable: Establishing The Causes Of Tajikistan's Current Crisis -- Radio Free Europe
Did External Forces Provoke Tajikistan’s Recent Trouble? -- Catherine Putz, The Diplomat

Armed Battles Between Police And Islamists In Tajikistan Kill 17

New York Times: Clashes in Tajikistan Between Police and Islamists Kill 17

MOSCOW — Long-simmering unrest and infighting in the leadership in Tajikistan flared on Friday when the government accused a deputy defense minister of siding with Islamists in clashes with the police that killed 17 people.

Tajikistan has not been fully at peace since a civil war in the 1990s. It borders Afghanistan, and for years, the Afghan war has threatened to spill over into the country as the United States winds down its military presence in the region.

The government is wobbly, divided between an authoritarian president and an Islamist opposition group composed of former militants, in a power-sharing arrangement put in place under a 1997 peace accord that never really stuck.

More News On Armed Battles Between Police And Islamists In Tajikistan

Police Clash With Gunmen in Tajikistan, 17 Dead -- AP
Outbreak of Violence in Tajikistan Leaves 17 Dead -- WSJ
17 people killed in armed attacks organized by Tajikistan’s deputy defense minister -- RT
Tajik policemen killed in attacks on state buildings -- Al Jazeera

Top Commander Of Tajikistan’s Special Forces Has Joined The Islamic State

Gulmorad Halimov's relatives say he disappeared on April 23 after telling his wife he would be traveling on business for three days

Washington Post: The U.S.-trained commander of Tajikistan’s special forces has joined the Islamic State

In late April, the chief of an elite police unit in Tajikistan disappeared. Relatives said Col. Gulmurod Khalimov, who commanded the Tajik Interior Ministry's special forces, had gone on a business trip. Other rumors suggested he had vanished after falling out with colleagues at a high-level meeting.

Now, there appears to be more clarity: Khalimov is in Syria and has defected to the Islamic State

That's according to a recent video that emerged online showing Khalimov clad in black and espousing the cause of the jihadist organization. It's hard to tell where the footage was shot, but in the video, Khalimov claims to have joined the Islamic State, making him one of the most high-profile central Asians to travel to Syria and enter the extremists' ranks. He also made clear he's not alone.

More News On The Top Commander Of Tajikistan’s Special Forces Joining The Islamic State

Tajikistan special forces chief Gulmurod Khalimov 'joins IS' -- BBC
Missing Tajik Police Commander Appears On Internet, Says Has Joined IS -- Radio Free Europe
Missing Tajikistan police chief defects to the Islamic State -- The Telegraph
Tajikistan police chief defects to Isis -- The Guardian
US and Russia-trained Tajik special police head defects to ISIS, swears jihad -- RT

Is The Islamic State Targeting Tajikistan Next?

RT: Russia to give Tajikistan multi-billion military aid to fight ISIS

Russia is ready to supply about $1.2 billion worth of weapons and military equipment to the Central Asian nation of Tajikistan, which is currently threatened by invasion from the Islamic State, a leading Russian business daily reported.

The Kommersant Daily newspaper quoted unnamed sources in the Russian General Staff as saying the amount of planned military aid to Tajikistan could reach 70 billion rubles (over $1.2 billion at current rate) within the next few years.

More News On The Growing Islamic State Insurgency In Tajikistan

Russia Ready to Give Tajikistan $1.2 Billion Military Aid to Fight ISIS -- Moscow Times
Russia ready to deliver almost $1.23 billion worth of arms to Tajikistan -- RBTH
Russia Plans to Send Tajikistan Military Aid to Combat ISIS -- Newsweek
Russia Readying Up To $1.2 Billion For Tajikistan To Fight Against ISIS: Report -- IBTimes
As Russia Raises Alarm On Afghan "Spillover," Tajikistan Complains It's Not Helping -- Joshua Kucera, Eurasianet.org

WNU Editor: It was only after the government in Tajikistan complained that they were not receiving the military aid that was promised to them that Russia reacted. But still .... $1.2 billion in weapons for a threat that may (or may not) occur .... sounds like over-kill .... or there is more to this story than what they are saying.

Tajikistan Rebellion Is Over

Tajik Rebels Surrender After Assault Threat -- Moscow Times

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan — Rebels facing off against government troops in Tajikistan's volatile east began laying down their weapons Sunday after the authorities threatened to start a new offensive to capture a former warlord accused of killing a local security chief.

President Emomali Rakhmon had called a cease-fire Tuesday after heavy fighting, promising to pardon anyone who disarmed while demanding that the rebels handed over Tolib Ayombekov, the former warlord, along with three fighters.

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More News On The End Of The Tajikistan Rebellion

Police say rebels in Tajikistan surrender weapons, raising hopes for end to armed standoff -- Washington Post/AP
Militant Tajik Group Voluntarily Surrenders Weapons -- Radio Free Europe
Tajik rebels hand in weapons amid tense truce -- Business Recorder
Hunt for warlord seen as pretext in Tajik fighting -- Business Recorder
Who is Tolib Ayombekov? -- Registan

Takikistan Goes All-Out To Crush Eastern Based Warlords

Violence In Tajikistan: The Strongman Cometh -- The Economist

Drugs, as well as politics, are behind the fighting in a remote region.

THE government in Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, has long been suspicious of faraway Gorno-Badakhshan, a vast and sparsely populated region in the country’s mountainous east. The inhabitants of the isolated valleys speak strange tongues and revere a descendant of the prophet, the Aga Khan, rather than the strongman president, Emomali Rakhmon. He has never forgotten that they did not support him during the country’s brutal post-Soviet civil war.

At the weekend Mr Rakhmon’s regional security chief was killed in Gorno-Badakhshan, snuggled between Afghanistan and China. The alleged perpetrator, an opposition commander in the civil war, Tolib Ayombekov, refused to give himself up, and Mr Rakhmon sent in his special forces.

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More News On The Conflict In Eastren Tajikistan

Tajik forces demand rebels surrender former warlord -- Reuters
Tajikistan adopts heavy tactics to quell former warlords and maintain fragile national unity -- Washington Post
Communications cut to residents in eastern Tajikistan -- CNN
Tajikistan clashes: 'Many dead' in Gorno-Badakhshan -- BBC
Dozens Killed in Tajikistan Battle -- Wall Street Journal
42 dead as Tajik troops battle ex-warlord -- Daily Times
Halt to Tajik fighting reported -- UPI
Tajik forces declare ceasefire after deadly clashes -- AFP
Tajik forces end military offensive -- Reuters
Tajik forces demand handover of rebel fighters -- Reuters
Fighting breaks out in south-east Tajikistan -- The Telegraph
Explainer: Violence In Tajikistan's Badakhshan Province A Legacy Of The Civil War -- Radio Free Europe

Heavy Fighting Reported In Eastern Tajikistan

Tajikistan Clashes: 'Many Dead' In Gorno-Badakhshan -- BBC

At least 42 people including 12 soldiers and 30 rebels have been killed in fighting in the remote Tajik region of Gorno-Badakhshan, state television has reported.

Some unconfirmed reports speak of a far higher level of casualties, with dozens of people being killed in the violence.

It follows the fatal stabbing of a top security forces official on Saturday.

That led to military action against local opposition strongman Tolib Ayombekov, reports say.

Residents of the provincial capital Khorog told the BBC their town now resembled a warzone.

Read more ....

More News On The Unrest In Tajikistan

Tajik official says 20 soldiers killed in clash -- AP
Tajikistan Attacks Restive Border Town, Killing Dozens -- Wall Street Journal
Deadly fighting in Tajikistan after general's murder -- AFP
Fighting breaks out in south-east Tajikistan -- The Telegraph
Tajik troops strike ex-warlord after general killed -- Chicago Tribune/Reuters
Tajikistan launches attack on rogue warlord -- Al Jazeera
At Least 42 Killed In Tajik Clashes -- Radio Free Europe
Tajikistan Troops Killed in Gorno-Badakhshan Clash -- Eurasianet.org
Dozens dead as govt forces clash with guerillas in remote Tajikistan -- RT
Nine Tajik Officers Killed, 25 Injured in Anti-Mafia Raid -- RIA Novosti

Tensions Rise Between Tajikistan And Uzbekistan

Tajikistan Accuses Uzbekistan Of Economic Blockade -- BBC

Tajikistan has accused its central Asian neighbour, Uzbekistan, of imposing a blockade.

It says the blockade could destabilise the country and lead to a humanitarian catastrophe.

A report published on the website of the Tajik embassy in Moscow accused Uzbekistan of blocking vital rail freight and cutting gas supplies.

Relations between the countries have deteriorated over a hydro-electric dam that Tajikistan is building.

Uzbekistan fears the dam will restrict water supplies to its main cash crop, cotton.

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Update #1: Tajikistan Accuses Uzbekistan of Energy, Transport Blockade -- RIA Novosti
Update #2: Halt to Uzbek gas supply hits Tajikistan -- Reuters

My Comment: There is no room for compromise in this dispute. Tajikistan wants their dam, Uzbekistan does not. Hence .... the energy blockade by Uzbekistan.

Tajikistan's Growing Insurgency Threatens To Destabilize The Country

Tajikistan At Growing Risk Of Insurgency: Report -- Alertnet

Tajikistan should engage with non-violent Islamic groups to avoid sliding toward conflict with a new generation of home-grown insurgents and fighters crossing back from Afghanistan, the International Crisis Group said.

The ICG, a Brussels-based think tank, said in a report that Tajikistan was not immune to the popular unrest sweeping parts of the Arab world and that attempts by the government to crush religious expression could backfire.

Read more ....

More News On Tajikistan

Extremists threaten new attacks in Tajikistan -- Central Asia Online
Tajikistan reins in religious education abroad -- RIA Novosti
Tajik authorities will have difficulty facing new threats of Islamists – experts -- Interfax
Tajikistan: The Changing Insurgent Threats -- International Crisis Group
Frustrations Grow In Tajikistan As Food Prices Spike -- Radio Free Europe

Tajikistan Becoming Another Front In the War Against Islamic Extremism

Tajikistan: The Next Jihadi Stronghold? -- New York Review Of Books

It is autumn in Dushanbe, the Tajik capital, and for a brief moment, the weather is stunningly beautiful—perfectly crisp and sunny, but not cold. Much of the city’s low-lying, subdued architecture—a particular Central Asian hybrid—is quite attractive; the broad avenues, lined with large pine and chestnut trees, remind you a bit of Paris. But the atmosphere in Tajikstan, which shares an 800-mile border with northern Afghanistan, is anything but calm.

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More News On Tajikistan

Violence in Tajikistan -- Diplomat
Tajikistan's Violence, Coming From Inside and Out -- Eurasianet
How heroin travels from Afghanistan to Tajikistan -- Global Post
UN high official says Tajikistan is key to deter drug trafficking from Afghanistan -- Wire Update
UN - Tajikistan key to preventing drug trafficking from Afghanistan – UN official -- ISRIA
Is India Out of the Game in Tajikistan? -- Eurasianet
Tajikistan: Dushanbe Forcing Students Abroad to Return Home -- Eurasianet
Tajikistan has recalled 1,000 students studying religion abroad -- Central Asia Newswire

The Unreported Islamist Uprising In Tajikistan

An Islamist Uprising in Tajikistan -- Der Spiegel

International observers consider Tajikistan to be a failed state in the midst of a national crisis. A growing mood of protest there is benefitting the Islamic opposition. Hundreds of new mosques have opened since the beginning of the year, and more women are seen wearing veils on the streets of Dushanbe.

Kishlak Belgi is a place travelers should only attempt to reach with an off-road vehicle. The village is in the foothills of the Pamir Mountains, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) east of the capital Dushanbe, in a corridor between the Kyrgyz and Afghan borders.

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More News On Tajikistan

Al-Qaeda training camp uncovered in Tajikistan -- The Telegraph
Tajikistan says restive east is under control -- BBC
Tajik Security Forces Kill A Dozen Militants -- RTT News
12 militants killed in special operation in Tajikistan -- Voice of Russia
Some Tajik militants laying down weapons -- Central Asia Online
Tajik forces hunt the ‘bin Laden of Tajikistan’ -- Central Asia Newswire
Battle against Tajikistan militants exposes weak government -- Hurriyet Daily News
Tajikistan: Dushanbe Dangling Ayni Air Base Before Russia -- Eurasianet.org
Tajikistan needs allies, economic development to defuse Islamist threat -- Central Asia Newswire

Al Qaeda Spreads To Tajikistan

Al-Qaeda Training Camp Uncovered In Tajikistan -- The Telegraph

Tajik troops have waged close quarter battles with al-Qaeda terrorists after uncovering a training camp in a remote valley that triggered warnings militants are spreading out of Afghanistan into its Central Asian neighbours.

The discovery prompted warnings that militants are spreading out of Afghanistan and into its gas and oil-rich Central Asian neighbours.

Insurgents led by Abdullo Rakhimov, a warlord who is one of Central Asia's most senior followers of Osama bin Laden, were thought to be training in camps in the Rasht valley, 30 miles north of the country's border with Afghanistan.

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My Comment: Unlike Afghanistan, many of these Central Asia countries are oil rich and play a vital role in supplying the worlds energy needs. The prospect of Al Qaeda branching into these regions is troublesome at best, disastrous at worse.

Unrest In Tajikistan Continues

Tajikistan In Turmoil -- Strategy Page

October 5, 2010: The last month has been a violent one in Tajikistan. On September 3rd, there was the first suicide car bombing in Tajikistan in five years. The blast, near a police station, killed three. Up to that point this year, Tajikistan had arrested about a hundred suspected Islamic terrorists. Now, a lot more arrests are being made.

Tajikistan is the poorest of the 14 nations to emerge from the rubble of the Soviet Union, and the corruption and tyranny of the current government has made Islamic law (Sharia) appealing to many Tajiks. The government has been urging parents not to send their send their sons to study in madrassas (Islamic religious schools) because such schools are a major source of recruits for Islamic radical organizations. But poverty, corruption and dictatorial rule causes many people to look to Islamic radicalism as a solution to their problems.

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More News On The Unrest In Tajikistan

Worries Grow As Tajik Government Continues Operation Against Militants -- Radio Free Europe
10 dead as police, terrorists clash in Tajikistan -- Sify News
Islamist militants kill Tajik policemen -- Sydney Morning Herald/AFP
5 Tajik policemen, 2 militants killed in Rasht fighting -- Central Asia Online
Increasing Tajikistan Violence Worries Neighbors -- Voice of America
Tajikistan Violence Spurring Russian Action in Kyrgyzstan? -- Eurasianet.org
Threat of Islamic extremism in Central Asia is often exaggerated, says analyst -- Central Asia Newswire
More ‘Jihadistans’? -- Newsweek

Tajikistan Militancy Raising Fears In The Region

Is Tajikistan The Next Afghanistan? -- Channel 4 News

Today a suicide bomber blew himself up in Khujand, northern Tajikistan. One person died and others were wounded. His target: a police station, near the border with Uzbekistan. After reading that, you could be forgiven if you did not read on. But this is a rare occurrence in an extremely important place.

Central Asia. We’re talking about one of the most repressed, impoverished and volatile regions on earth.

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More News On Tajikistan

Attack in Tajikistan Highlights Fears of Militancy -- New York Times
Suicide blast kills Tajik policeman, wounds 25 -- AP
Suicide car bomber wounds 25 police in Tajikistan -- Reuters
Suicide blast kills senior Tajik police officer -- AFP
Suicide Car Bomber Hits Tajik Police Station -- Radio Free Europe

Top Tajik Security Chiefs Dismissed Following Prison Break -- Radio Free Europe
Security chief replaced after Tajik jail break -- BBC
Tajik leader fires security chiefs after jailbreak -- Reuters
5 Guards Killed in Tajikistan Prison Break -- New York Times
Twenty-Five Militants Escape Prison In Tajikistan -- Radio Free Europe
Tajikistan hunts for armed fugitives -- Financial Times

Tajik Leader Rails Against the Veil -- Eurasia.org
Tajikistan head blames radical madrasahs -- Sydney Morning Herald/AFP
Tajikistan Urges Parents To Recall Children From Foreign Religious Schools -- Radio Free Europe
Tajikistan Headed toward ‘Total Islamization,’ Thus Threatening Russia -- Georgian Daily
It’s Tough Being Young in Tajikistan, part 2 -- New Eurasia
Pros and cons of the U.S. training center in Tajikistan -- Eurasianet