Over the past six months, all types of crimes have decreased in Tajikistan, but crimes related to extremism and terrorism have increased.
DUSHANBE, July 19 - Sangar. In the past, officials and experts predicted that after the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, "sleeper cells" of terrorist and extremist organizations in neighboring countries of Central Asia would intensify their activities.
However, Tajik officials say that the increase in crimes related to terrorism and extremism in the country is not related to the Taliban coming to power in Afghanistan, but to the events of May and June in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAR).
As the Interior Minister of Tajikistan Ramazon Rahimzoda stated at a press conference, the increase in crimes related to extremism and terrorism in Tajikistan has nothing to do with the coming to power of the Taliban.
“We recorded everything that happened inside the country. But we have not recorded the fact that the activation of extremist and terrorist groups is a consequence of the situation in Afghanistan," said Ramazon Rahimzoda.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan, over the past six months, 261 members of terrorist and extremist organizations have been detained, of which 64 are teenagers. And 14 organized criminal groups consisting of 100 people were detained for these crimes. At the same time, 44 members of extremist and terrorist organizations located abroad were arrested and extradited, including 41 from Russia and three more from Egypt, Kazakhstan, and Turkey.
Earlier, the Prosecutor General's Office of Tajikistan reported that over the past six months, the country's security agencies have identified and recorded 720 crimes related to terrorism and extremism, which is 106 more than in the same period last year.
In general, 12 thousand 482 crimes were registered in Tajikistan for the current half of the year, which is less than in the same period last year, 1396 crimes. All types of crimes, with the exception of crimes related to terrorism and extremism, have decreased compared to the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the internal affairs authorities claim that this increase is due to the anti-terrorist operation on the territory of GBAO, which took place in May-June.
The head of the Department for Combating Crime of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan, Shodi Hafizzoda, said that the increase in the detection of crimes related to terrorism, compared to the same period last year, is associated with the anti-terrorist operation in GBAR.
“In the course of this operation, several acts of an extremist-terrorist nature were committed by extremist and terrorist groups, which were identified and recorded by the authorities,” Shodi Hafizzoda said.
Earlier, the Inter-Agency Headquarters for Security and Public Order in GBAR reported that during the anti-terrorist operation, a total of 16 people who offered armed resistance were neutralized, 220 people were arrested, and criminal cases were initiated against 53 people.
Also during this operation, an officer of the Alpha special anti-terrorist unit of the State Security Committee of Tajikistan was killed, 13 more soldiers were seriously injured, and four special forces fighters of the OMON of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan died as a result of a traffic accident. This operation began on May 18, and on June 18 the authorities announced that the work of the Inter-Agency Headquarters for Security and Public Order in GBAO had been completed.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan, 3,000 citizens of this country are officially wanted for extremist and terrorist crimes. Over the past six months, 109 members of extremist and terrorist organizations and participants in hostilities in foreign countries have been returned to Tajikistan at their request from abroad, including 100 people from Russia, 7 people from Turkey, and one each from Kazakhstan and Egypt.
Since 2015, with the assistance of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan, 792 members of extremist and terrorist organizations and combatants have voluntarily returned to their homeland.