Tajikistan Says Kills Three Suspected Islamist Militants

The Interior Ministry in Tajikistan says Tajik security forces have killed three suspected Islamist militants near the border with Afghanistan.

Ministry spokesman Makhmadullo Asadulloyev was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying those killed were Tajik citizens who had trained at what he called "terrorist camps and Al-Qaeda bases in Afghanistan."

The deaths of the suspected militants are reported to have occurred in operations in recent days in the eastern Rasht region.

Tajik government forces have been carrying out operations targeting militants in the Rasht Valley after nearly 30 soldiers were killed in an ambush on a military convoy in the region in September.

Officials said the militants were led by former commanders of Islamist opposition forces that fought against government forces during the 1992-97 Tajik civil war.

compiled from agency reports