ANKARA (AA): Thirteen executives of Tajikistan’s Islamic Renaissance Party were detained Thursday after the office of the prosecutor general pressed charges of collaborating with former deputy defense minister who had been accused of planning a Sept. 4 armed attack on security forces, according to reports.
Official Tajik news agency Khovar said the crackdown on the party was aimed at preventing “new terrorist attacks”.
On Sept. 4, an armed group attacked security forces in Dushanbe and Vahdat cities which left 8 police officers and 9 assailants dead, according to officials. The attack as blamed on the former deputy defense minister, Nazarzoda Abduhalim Mirzo, who the Tajik government has accused of rebellion.
The prosecutor’s office said all of the detained party officials said they were taken under custody as they attempted to flee the country, including Sayyid Omar Huseyni, the deputy chairman of the Islamic Renaissance Party.
