Islamic Militants Arrested In Tajikistan

Six suspected members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) have been arrested in the south of Tajikistan.

The governor of Tajikistan's Qubadyon district, Abdulmumin Ulfatov, told journalists on January 28 that all the suspects are from a village near the border with Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Tajik Interior Ministry's spokesman Mahmudullo Asadulloev told RFE/RL that four residents of the country's northern province of Sughd near Uzbekistan were arrested for concealing information on the whereabouts of Islamic militants.

On January 18, Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimov said that Tajik security forces killed one alleged IMU member and arrested nine other suspects in Sughd.

The IMU, which says it wants to establish an Islamic caliphate in Central Asia, has been banned in Tajikistan and other Central Asian countries.

It moved its operations to neighboring Afghanistan in recent years.

Based on reporting by Interfax and ITAR-TASS