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.

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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

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.

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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