Thirteen militants were killed on Saturday in Tajikistan, a day after their armed group allegedly carried out deadly attacks on police, the Interior Ministry said.
The operation by both the Army and police follows yesterday attacks that saw eight policemen and nine militants killed and which the Government said were orchestrated by former deputy Defence Minister Abduhalim Nazarzoda.
“At this time, 32 members of Nazarzoda’s criminal group have been detained, 13 of whom have been eliminated,” the Ministry said in a statement. Four policemen were killed in a shootout with militants on the outskirts of the capital Dushanbe on Friday and another four officers were killed in an attack in the town of Vahdat just outside the capital, the Interior Ministry said.
A large-scale security operation was underway to find the assailants.