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Tajik Government Declares Unilateral Truce In Eastern Tajikistan

July 25, 2012

by RFE/RL's Tajik Service

KHOROG, Tajikistan -- President Emomali Rahmon has reportedly declared a one-day, unilateral truce in a bid to end fighting between government forces and militants in eastern Tajikistan that has reportedly killed nearly 50 people.

The head of the Gorno-Badakhshan regional government, Qodiri Qosim, said Rahmon declared the truce on July 25 after sending officials led by his defense minister, Sherali Khairulloev, to the region to negotiate.

The government has described the armed fighters as "militants," but reportedly has offered an amnesty to all but four of the fighters if they lay down their weapons and surrender.

Among the four is Talib Ayombekov, a former Islamic opposition fighter who received a post in the Interior Ministry and then a senior position in the border guards after the 1992-97 civil war.

The government said at least 12 soldiers and 30 militants were killed in fighting in the remote mountainous region on July 24.

Qosim said six civilians were also killed by snipers in the city of Khorog, though it was not immediately clear who the gunmen were.

The fighting broke out after government moved forces to the region following the assassination on July 21 of the regional head of the State Committee for National Security, General Abdullo Nazarov.

Tajik authorities blame Ayombekov for the murder, a charge Ayombekov denies.

The government maintains only a tenuous hold over the remote Gorno-Badakhshan region, where the majority of the people are Shi'ites of the Ismaili sect who sided with the opposition during Tajikistan's civil war.

Restive East

The central government's relationship with the eastern region has grown worse in recent years as government forces were repeatedly sent to Gorno-Badakhshan to rein in unrest and excesses committed by local officials.

Many local figures are -- like Ayombekov -- former fighters for the opposition who received posts under the terms of the 1997 peace accord that ended the civil war.

Nazarov, the slain general, was another former opposition fighter who received a state position.

Allegations about his murder have revolved around reputed smuggling operations in the region, which borders Afghanistan and China.

Other fighters in eastern Tajikistan have since maintained and even increased their personal influence over local affairs.

Government forces were sent into the region in 2008 amid growing discontent that spawned demonstrations in the regional capital Khorog, and again in 2010 during protests that centered on the actions of a regional prosecutor.

One security operation in the Rasht area in 2010 to recapture escaped prisoners led to months of fighting in the mountainous terrain controlled by former opposition field commanders who did not accept Tajikistan's 1997 peace accord. The clashes left scores of government troops and militants dead.

This latest fighting has prompted the Ismailis to claim they are once again victims of government repression.

Besides protests in Khorog, Ismailis have staged protests in neighboring Kyrgyzstan and at Tajikistan's embassy in Moscow against the government's military operation in Gorno-Badakhshan.

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/tajik-government-offers-amnesty-to-quell-fighting/24655905.html

Copyright (c) 2012. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.