Police, alleged militants killed in Tajikistan

Police in Tajikistan confirmed the deaths of 23 people on Saturday, following Friday's shootouts in the capital, Dushanbe, and the neighboring city of Vahdat. Nine police officers and 13 rebels died in Friday's clashes, while an additional police officer was killed in an attack on Saturday on the outskirts of Dushanbe, Reuters news agency reported.

After the attacks, forces followed the rebels and their leader into a gorge on the outskirts of the city.

"The territory has been completely surrounded; the operation to apprehend and neutralize the criminals is underway," the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

A police spokesman told the AFP news agency that "the terrorist group was led by deputy defense minister Abduhalim Nazarzoda." Later on Friday, the government announced that Nazarzoda, a former opposition general, was relieved of his duties "in connection with a crime committed."

The US embassy also temporarily closed in response to the attacks and warned that the shootings were a "precursor to other acts of violence." Internet users in Tajikistan also reported blocks on Facebook, YouTube, and a Russian social media site called Odnoklassniki after Friday's attacks.

Political tensions

Nararzoda is a member of the country's Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), previously the only legal Islamic party in the Central Asian country. Last week, the justice ministry issued a de-facto ban on the IRPT, which analysts believe may cause the party to become radical.

Many worry that unrest will return to Tajikistan, a Muslim nation with 8 million inhabitants, which is still unstable after a civil war in 1992-97 between a Moscow-supported government and the Islamist opposition.

In its efforts to eliminate militant Islam in the country, the secular government has resorted to harsh tactics such as forced beard shavings and bans on the import and sale of hijabs.

rs/se (AFP, Reuters)