Tag Archives: security

ICG warns Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan on Taliban threat

JAN. 11 2016, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — Anti-terrorist operations by Pakistan’s military along its border with Afghanistan have pushed Islamist fighters north, increasing the threat posed by the Taliban to Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said.

The ICG said these battle-hardened radicals had played a key role in briefly capturing Kunduz, on the border with Tajikistan, last year.

“Insecurity in Afghanistan’s northern provinces, including Taliban control of districts across from Tajikistan, has increased pressure, with risk that battle-experienced Islamic militants could link up with even small numbers of potential allies inside the country,” ICG wrote.

The ICG is an influential voice. Its report sides with Russia’s analysis that stability along Central Asia’s southern border has worsened.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)

Russia hold military exercise in Georgian rebel region

JAN. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia held a military exercise in the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia involving 2,000 soldiers and artillery, a show of force designed to remind Georgia just how heavily armed the rebel region is. Russia and Georgia fought a brief war over South Ossetia in 2008. Russia and a handful of its allies have since recognised its independence but the international community still considers South Ossetia as part of Georgia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)

Iran ratifies security deal with Tajikistan

JAN. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Iran’s parliament ratified a security deal with Tajikistan despite a row over an invitation to a Tajik opposition leader to visit Tehran that dented relations between the two countries earlier this month. Tajik president Emomali Rakhmon and Iran’s Hassan Rouhani had agreed the security deal in 2014.

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(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)

Iran welcome for opposition angers Tajikistan

DEC. 29 2015, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin)– Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with Muhiddin Kabiri, the exiled head of Tajikistan’s now-banned main opposition party, in Tehran, immediately drawing threats from Tajik officials that the meeting would damage bilateral relations.

The major show of support from Iran for Mr Kabiri, who is wanted by police in Tajikistan to face various terrorism charges, and his Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) is a poke in the eye for Dushanbe, officially a secular country.

Tajikistan and Iran have traditionally close relations, sharing many similar cultural, religious and ethnic identifiers. Iran has also been a major sponsor of essential hydropower infrastructure in Tajikistan.

The Tajik foreign ministry sent a note to the Iranian Embassy in Dushanbe which said: “Such an attitude to the enemies of the state and the people of Tajikistan can have a negative impact on the friendly relations between Tajikistan and Iran.”

In September, Tajikistan banned the IRPT, once Tajikistan’s main opposition party, and accused its members of supporting radical Islam and terrorism.

Mr Kabiri, who fled into exile, and his supporters have accused the Tajik government of crushing dissent.

In Dushanbe, an analyst who preferred to remain anonymous told The Conway Bulletin that Mr Kabiri was taking a gamble by appearing in Tehran.

“For Kabiri and the IRPT, after having no support at all from the West, Iran was the last chance to stay in the political arena,” he said.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)

Azerbaijan shakes up security

DEC. 14 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree to create two new security agencies, the State Security Service and the Foreign Intelligence Service, and disband the National Security Ministry. Earlier this year, Mr Aliyev sacked Eldar Mahmudov as national security minister. The next day police arrested several ministry officials.

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