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