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| Clashes in Tajikistan Between Police and Islamists Kill 17 | Clashes in Tajikistan Between Police and Islamists Kill 17 |
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| MOSCOW — Long-simmering unrest and infighting in the leadership in Tajikistan flared on Friday when the government accused a deputy defense minister of siding with Islamists in clashes with the police that killed 17 people. | |
| Tajikistan has not been fully at peace since a civil war in the 1990s. It borders Afghanistan, and for years, the Afghan war has threatened to spill over into the country as the United States winds down its military presence in the region. | Tajikistan has not been fully at peace since a civil war in the 1990s. It borders Afghanistan, and for years, the Afghan war has threatened to spill over into the country as the United States winds down its military presence in the region. |
| The government is wobbly, divided between an authoritarian president and an Islamist opposition group composed of former militants, in a power-sharing arrangement put in place under a 1997 peace accord that never really stuck. | The government is wobbly, divided between an authoritarian president and an Islamist opposition group composed of former militants, in a power-sharing arrangement put in place under a 1997 peace accord that never really stuck. |
| In the unrest on Friday, the government accused one of the reconciled former militants, the deputy minister of defense, Maj. Gen. Abdukhalim Nazarzoda, of siding again with Islamic rebels. | In the unrest on Friday, the government accused one of the reconciled former militants, the deputy minister of defense, Maj. Gen. Abdukhalim Nazarzoda, of siding again with Islamic rebels. |
| General Nazarzoda, the authorities said, orchestrated attacks on a security service arsenal and a police station, and then fled with about 130 supporters to a mountainous area about 25 miles outside the capital, Dushanbe. He remained holed up there. | General Nazarzoda, the authorities said, orchestrated attacks on a security service arsenal and a police station, and then fled with about 130 supporters to a mountainous area about 25 miles outside the capital, Dushanbe. He remained holed up there. |
| Firefights broke out at the arsenal in Dushanbe and later at a police station in the provincial town of Vakhdat, killing eight members of the security services and nine militants. | Firefights broke out at the arsenal in Dushanbe and later at a police station in the provincial town of Vakhdat, killing eight members of the security services and nine militants. |
| “Nazarzoda was an active participant and personally led, from start to finish, the terrorist attack,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement cited by Ferghana, a news portal focusing on Central Asia. | “Nazarzoda was an active participant and personally led, from start to finish, the terrorist attack,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement cited by Ferghana, a news portal focusing on Central Asia. |
| The statement said the police had searched General Nazarzoda’s home and a bakery that he owned in Dushanbe. By evening, security services had blockaded main streets leading to the presidential palace, the Russian news agency RIA reported. | The statement said the police had searched General Nazarzoda’s home and a bakery that he owned in Dushanbe. By evening, security services had blockaded main streets leading to the presidential palace, the Russian news agency RIA reported. |
| The country’s spiral of repression and rebellion could have set off the clashes, the EurasiaNet news agency reported. | The country’s spiral of repression and rebellion could have set off the clashes, the EurasiaNet news agency reported. |
| Residents in Vakhdat had been protesting the death in police custody of a man detained for wearing his beard long, which, in this area, is sometimes an indication of adherence to a militant group and sometimes is not. | Residents in Vakhdat had been protesting the death in police custody of a man detained for wearing his beard long, which, in this area, is sometimes an indication of adherence to a militant group and sometimes is not. |
| Human rights groups and the reconciled former militants in the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan have long accused the government of President Emomali Rakhmonov of having a heavy hand in suppressing lingering unrest. The country has also struggled to develop economically under his watch, despite prestige projects like the building of the world’s tallest flagpole and largest teahouse. | Human rights groups and the reconciled former militants in the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan have long accused the government of President Emomali Rakhmonov of having a heavy hand in suppressing lingering unrest. The country has also struggled to develop economically under his watch, despite prestige projects like the building of the world’s tallest flagpole and largest teahouse. |
| In the early phases of the Afghan war, Mr. Rakhmonov aided the United States military by allowing Special Forces units to pass through Tajikistan into Afghanistan, across a long and poorly guarded border. The country is also a link in the United States’ northern supply route into the war zone, and one of the possible routes out for heavy equipment like armored vehicles. | In the early phases of the Afghan war, Mr. Rakhmonov aided the United States military by allowing Special Forces units to pass through Tajikistan into Afghanistan, across a long and poorly guarded border. The country is also a link in the United States’ northern supply route into the war zone, and one of the possible routes out for heavy equipment like armored vehicles. |