MAY 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in south Tajikistan sentenced 10 men to 8-1/2 years in prison each for being members of the banned Islamic extremist group Jamaat Ansarullah. Jamaat Ansarullah is an offshoot of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, blamed for a series of attacks over the past couple of decades in Central Asia.
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(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
APRIL 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – At a ceremony in Istanbul, Tajik, Pakistani and Afghan officials signed a deal that will mean electricity generated in Tajikistan’s Pamir Mountains will power households in Islamabad.
The CASA-1000 project should generate income for Dushanbe from its hydro-stations and for Kabul as a transit country while plugging a shortfall in electricity in Pakistan.
As well as an economic success, the $1.2b project is seen as a diplomatic highlight by the United States which is keen to involve Central Asian countries in trade deals with Pakistan and Afghanistan. It sees this as a way to foster stability once it withdraws its forces.
Richard Hoagland, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Central Asia, said: “We’ve already seen the efficacy of such an approach in the successes of the CASA-1000 energy project, which brought together a grouping of countries that had never before worked together on a development project.”
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(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)
APRIL 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Devout Muslims in Tajikistan say officials are waging a campaign designed to intimidate and humiliate them by shaving off their beards and limiting access to the annual Haj to Mecca, the AFP news agency reported. Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon has steadily cracked down on Islam.
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(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)
APRIL 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan both moved their Victory Day military parades from May 9 to May 7 because their leaders were due to be in Moscow for the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)
APRIL 29 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A move by Tajikistan’s government to ban exchange booths from dealing in currencies has pushed currency trading into the black market and reduced the value of the Tajik somoni further, Eurasianet reported. The somoni has lost around 17% of its value this year.
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(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)
APRIL 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Taliban forces have launched a series of major attacks on government checkpoints and bases in the previously stable Badakhshan region of northeast Afghanistan, media reported.
Badakhshan borders Tajikistan and its worsening security situation will alarm Tajik officials. They have warned that the Taliban may have designs on Central Asia once NATO forces leave.
Reuters reported that at least 18 government policemen were killed fighting Taliban forces in Badakhshan. Eight of them had reportedly been beheaded.
It also said that government forces had killed 19 Taiban fighters, suggesting that there had been a series of fairly major battles.
Spring marks the start of the fighting season in Afghanistan after the snow melts away allowing mountain passes to be crossed. This year’s season is being particularly closely watched to see how both government forces and the Taliban respond to the official end of the NATO combat mission.
Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have said that they are all increasing security along their borders with Afghanistan.
Russia has also pledged more support along Central Asia’s borders. It wants to pull Central Asia more closely into its wider security reach.
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(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)
APRIL 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s Central Bank ordered currency exchange points throughout the country to be closed to try and protect its somoni currency losing more value. The somoni is under pressure as remittances from Russia dry up. It has lost 15% of its value this year.
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(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)
APRIL 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Dozens of local contractors working at the Russian military base in south Tajikistan have gone on strike over unpaid wages, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported (RFE/RL). RFE/RL quoted an official at the base blaming a local contracting company.
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(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)
APRIL 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) -Tajik president Imomali Rakhmon plans to build Central Asia’s largest theatre for $100m, media reported. Mr Rakhmon is partial to grandiose projects. Earlier this year he ordered work to begin on a new city in the desert. Dushanbe boasts one of the world’s tallest flagpoles.
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(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)
APRIL 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Mudslides in Tajikistan have killed at least 10 people, media reported. The mudslides highlight the often poor state of infrastructure in Tajikistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
