Dushanbe investigates police car explosion

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DUSHANBE — A parked police car was blown up on July 30 on the southern edge of Dushanbe near a city market. The interior ministry said the blast occurred at 6:30 p.m. local time as Deputy Director of the Firdavsi District Police Department Tolibsho Dovudov and Sergeant Bakhriddin Rakhmonov approached the vehicle.

Both were wounded by shrapnel and hospitalised. Bomb fragments and a detonator were found at the scene. Preliminary examination shows the bomb had the power of 200 grammes of TNT.

A terrorist attack or assassination attempt on Dovudov in connection with his work are being explored as possible motives.

The blast occurred at the time of a meeting in the presidential residence in Dushanbe between leaders of Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Russia and Pakistan. It was the third explosion in the Tajik capital during the previous week. The first two occurred on July 25 and 26. Fragments of improvised explosives devices were also found at the scene of those blasts. The National Security Committee considers both to have been terrorist attacks.

Expert Shokirdzhon Khakimov claimed that elements in Tajikistan are using terrorist attacks as a form of political pressure on the government. He said this happens in any society in which all other methods of drawing the government’s attention to problems in society have been exhausted. Khakimov said most of the population feels isolated from the social, political and economic dynamics of the country as national authorities further distance themselves from the public. Dissatisfaction with the attitude of authorities towards religious organisations adds to the problems, he said.