Tajik Police Officer Killed, Another Wounded Near Uzbek Border

DUSHANBE -- Unknown gunmen have killed one police officer and wounded a second in Tajikistan's northern province of Sughd near the border with Uzbekistan.

RFE/RL's local correspondent quoted police as saying that the gunmen opened fire at the police after their car was stopped at a checkpoint near the town of Koni Bodom on January 14.

The assailants escaped after the attack.

An investigation has been launched.

Last week, two suspected members of the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) were apprehended in a special operation in the area.

The IMU, which says it wants to establish an Islamic caliphate in Central Asia, is believed to have links with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

It had been active in the region, but in recent years has moved its operations to neighboring Afghanistan.