One soldier died and 13 were injured in the explosion of a Molotov cocktail thrown at a convoy of the National Security Committee of Tajikistan. Eight members of an “illegal armed group” were also killed and 11 injured. More than 70 members of the group were arrested, the ministry said.
According to the statement from the Interior Ministry, some 200 members of “armed criminal groups” blocked some roads, including a highway, in the Gorno-Badashkan Autonomous Region on the border with Afghanistan.
This morning Tajikistan announced it would launch an anti-terrorist operation in that large, sparsely populated region after tensions mounted between Tajikistan and a regional leader. “In order to ensure the safety of citizens and the social order, the security services have launched a counter-terrorism operation,” the ministry said. They accuse the criminal groups of being financed by foreign terrorist organizations.