Ex-Soviet Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon said Sunday that violence which has left at least 22 dead since attacks against police on Friday is the result of "criminal plans" and promised perpetrators would be "deservedly punished."
Speaking in the provincial town of Vahdat following two shootouts allegedly organised by a rogue former deputy defence minister, Rahmon pledged to punish those responsible for the attacks.
"I want to offer my condolences to the families of the dead police and special forces, and declare that the guilty will be deservedly punished," Rahmon said.
"This was carried out by criminals... who had criminal plans," he said.
Nine police and 13 militants died following two shootouts with police in the capital Dushanbe and Vahdat in the early hours of Friday morning, the interior ministry said.
On Sunday, the ministry said that the situation in Dushanbe and Vahdat was "stable" and being controlled by state security forces.
Around 500 weapons were seized and 32 militants detained following the shootings, including at least six serving members of the country's defence ministry, the interior ministry said.
A government air and ground military operation was launched in response to the attacks, targeting militants it says are commanded by Abdulhalim Nazarzoda, the country's former deputy defence minister, who was relieved of his duties on Friday "in connection with a crime committed" and remains at large.
"The militants were offered to surrender but they refused. The operation continues," an interior ministry spokesman told AFP Saturday, referring to a joint police and army operation taking place in the mountains some 50 kilometres (30 miles) northeast of the capital, where rebels are believed to be hiding.
Militants also managed to steal "a large quantity of weapons and ammunition" during the attacks, officials said.
The government claims Nazarzoda, who fought on the side of the opposition during a five-year civil war that cost around 150,000 lives in the 1990s, is a member of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), the country's largest opposition faction effectively closed down by the government last week.
IRPT, which positions itself as a moderate, faith-based party, has denied Nazarzoda is a member.
Nazarzoda was appointed to the position of deputy defence minister last January after having worked at the ministry since 1999, when anti-government fighters were integrated into state institutions after the civil war.
Ex-Soviet Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon said Sunday that violence which has left at least 22 dead since attacks against police on Friday is the result of “criminal plans” and promised perpetrators would be “deservedly punished.”
Speaking in the provincial town of Vahdat following two shootouts allegedly organised by a rogue former deputy defence minister, Rahmon pledged to punish those responsible for the attacks.
“I want to offer my condolences to the families of the dead police and special forces, and declare that the guilty will be deservedly punished,” Rahmon said.
“This was carried out by criminals… who had criminal plans,” he said.
Nine police and 13 militants died following two shootouts with police in the capital Dushanbe and Vahdat in the early hours of Friday morning, the interior ministry said.
On Sunday, the ministry said that the situation in Dushanbe and Vahdat was “stable” and being controlled by state security forces.
Around 500 weapons were seized and 32 militants detained following the shootings, including at least six serving members of the country’s defence ministry, the interior ministry said.
A government air and ground military operation was launched in response to the attacks, targeting militants it says are commanded by Abdulhalim Nazarzoda, the country’s former deputy defence minister, who was relieved of his duties on Friday “in connection with a crime committed” and remains at large.
“The militants were offered to surrender but they refused. The operation continues,” an interior ministry spokesman told AFP Saturday, referring to a joint police and army operation taking place in the mountains some 50 kilometres (30 miles) northeast of the capital, where rebels are believed to be hiding.
Militants also managed to steal “a large quantity of weapons and ammunition” during the attacks, officials said.
The government claims Nazarzoda, who fought on the side of the opposition during a five-year civil war that cost around 150,000 lives in the 1990s, is a member of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), the country’s largest opposition faction effectively closed down by the government last week.
IRPT, which positions itself as a moderate, faith-based party, has denied Nazarzoda is a member.
Nazarzoda was appointed to the position of deputy defence minister last January after having worked at the ministry since 1999, when anti-government fighters were integrated into state institutions after the civil war.
