Country Reports on Terrorism 2015 released by the United States State Department on June 2 notes that according to the Government of Tajikistan, 700 Tajiks had left the country to fight with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) by the end of 2015.
In addition, the government remained concerned that instability in neighboring Afghanistan would push violent extremist groups across the border into Tajikistan, according to the report.
In response, the Government of Tajikistan worked to strengthen its efforts to fight terrorism and radicalization, although its focus was almost entirely on law enforcement measures, with little attention given to countering violent extremism. Tajikistan reportedly sought to increase military and law enforcement capacity to conduct tactical operations through bilateral and multilateral assistance programs, including programs funded by the United States. The United States, Russia, Japan, and the EU also provided funding for border security programs.
Three were reportedly three major events in 2015 that further heightened the government’s focus on the threat of terrorism within the country: 1) defection of the commander of the elite police unit OMON (Special Purpose Mobility Unit), Gulmurod Halimov, to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in April; 2) a series of attacks committed by a group of supporters of former Deputy Minister of Defense Abduhalim Nazarzoda in and around Dushanbe on September 4 that left nine police and 17 attackers dead; and 3) the Taliban’s seizure of the city of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan in late September that increased concern in Tajikistan of a possible spillover of fighters and refugees.
The report says that Tajikistan continued to make progress in improving border security with bilateral and multilateral assistance, although effectively policing the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border remained a difficult task requiring more resources and capabilities than were available to the Tajik government. Within the region, the illicit trafficking of opiates transiting the Commonwealth of Independent States destined for the Russian Federation and Eastern Europe was the predominant funding mechanism for Afghan-based terrorist activity. Drug trafficking in the region is inextricably tied to terrorism, and drug proceeds enable this activity. Afghan Drug Trafficking Organizations and Organized Criminal Groups tied to violent extremist organizations frequently solicit the exchange of weapons, arms, or vehicles for drugs in lieu of currency-based remuneration.
The UN Office of Drugs and Crime, in conjunction with DEA and the Department of State, provided interdiction related training to Tajikistan (and Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan) in support of the Border Liaison Office program. The U.S. Central Command Counter Narcotics Program continued to provide facilities, outposts, and material support (including ground-sensor interdiction technology) to the Tajik Border Guards under the State Committee for National Security. In 2015, the Department of State’s Export Control and Border Security program routinely provided both training and material support to Tajikistan to improve border control, contraband interdiction, and counter-proliferation capabilities.
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