On 22 June, at 4 a.m. detachments of the Tajik Ministry of Interior together
with other law enforcement military units started an operation on annihilation
of illicit armed groups of Rakhmon Sanginov.

Sanginov,
known in Tajikistan by the nickname of Rakhmon Hitler, one of the former
United Tajik Opposition (UTO) field commanders, now claims to be a farmer. On
11 June, in the village of Teppai Samarkandi, on the outskirts of Dushanbe, he
took five police officers and two Interior Ministry servicemen hostage,
demanding to release some of his accomplices. The police had recently arrested
a number of these armed “peasants”, members of “Hitler’s” gang,
sparking the fury of Sanginov. Reportedly, all the hostages were released last
week.

For the time being,
the area of the so called 9-th kilometer on the eastern outskirts of Dushanbe
is besieged. The highway leading to Kofarnihon, the administrative center
closest to Dushanbe, is blocked by traffic police. During the past two months,
tensions in Tajikistan have been heating up, mostly in the Romit Valley, some
30 kilometers southeast of the capital. Most of the actors in the incidents
are former UTO commanders. In April, there was an attempt on the life of Mr.
Ghulov, head of Kofarnihon district administration. The attackers who shot
from a grenade thrower at the Mayor’s vehicle failed to kill him, but his
driver died.

A link in the chain
of events is the 11 April assassination of Major General Khabib Sanginov,
first Deputy Minister of Interior in Dushanbe. Sanginov played significant
role in the resolution of the inter-Tajik conflict. The ministerial department
headed by him carried out operations on annihilation of illicit military units
in Gharm and Kofarnikhon.

On 15 June, the
commander of a special battalion of the Ministry for Emergency Situations in
Gharm took 15 workers from the German Agro Action (GAA) famine-relief agency,
Security Ministry servicemen, and one U.S. citizen hostage. The hostages were
not harmed, and were released from captivity during the next two days after
Emergency Situations Minister Mirzo Ziyoev--also a former UTO commander--was
sent by the Tajik president Emomali Rakhmonov to negotiate with the
hostage-takers. The circumstances of the hostage-taking incident still remain
unclear. Allegedly, the hostage takers demanded the release of their
relatives, who are in prison in connection with the April assassination of
Deputy Interior Minister Khabib Sanginov.

Although there is no
coordination between the gangs in the East of Tajikistan, the social and
economic unrest in the society, especially in such a particular area as the
Gharm group of districts, create grounds for deterioration of the security
environment in general. It is unlikely that these localized conflicts would
grow into a wider regional conflict, and, luckily, nobody conscripts
compatriots to serry under the banner of Islam. After the conclusion of the
Peace Accord in 1997, between the lawful authority and the UTO, some five
thousand fighters returned from Afghan camps to Tajikistan. Most of them
settled down in Karategin valley, the most unsafe area in the country. Those
who wished to continue military service took a medical examination and joined
the Tajik regular army on a contract basis; others came back to civilian life
having become farmers. A number of former mujahids left for Russia and other
neighboring countries to find earnings. After a while, President Rakhmonov
abolished the decree on contract military service, and the former mercenaries
went into the wilderness.

One of the
recommendations given in the report of the International Crisis Group to
donors and international organizations (published on 8 June) is to “Shift
funds from programs favoring the national capitals towards ones focused on
localities at risk of violent conflict and seek implementation partners less
in national governments and more in local governments, NGOs and community
organizations”.

By normal">Alexei Igushev