25 convicted militants escape from Tajik detention centre

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DUSHANBE -- Twenty-five convicted militants broke out of a State Committee for National Security (SCNS) detention centre in Dushanbe the night of August 22-23. They included Saidakhmad and Mukhammadrizo Ziyoyev, sons of slain former United Tajik Opposition (UTO) commander Mirzo Ziyoyev.

The escapees killed one guard in the process, and seized weapons, according to the SCNS, before they put on camouflaged clothing and fled the scene.

Kosim Gafforov, first deputy chairman of the SCNS, identified the escape organisers as Ibrokhim Nasriddinov of the Dzhaloiddini Rumi district, Magamed Akhmedov of Dagestan, Russia, and Khikmat Azizov of the Pliandzh district.

Nasriddinov, Akhmedov and Azizov attacked a guard, killed him, armed themselves and freed 22 other prisoners, Gafforov said.

"Then they attacked the guards of the Justice Ministry's temporary detention centre. In the gun battle between the criminals and the Justice Ministry guards, four of those guards were killed."

President Emomali Rakhmon has ordered Interior Minister Abdurakhim Kakhkhorov to lead the nationwide manhunt.

All security agencies have gone on high alert and have reinforced police and border posts.

Authorities suspect the fugitives have fled to the Rasht Valley in eastern Tajikistan and have sent Interior Ministry and SCNS forces there.

The escape won't cause political problems, predicted political scientist Abdugani Mamadazimov.

"None of the escapees belongs to the Islamic Renaissance Party (PIVT), which is capable of exerting real influence. The majority of them belong to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), which has no support among the population,” he said.

“The people are weary of political cataclysms and will not participate in the destructive efforts of certain groups, despite high unemployment and poverty rates."

Mamadazimov attributed the breakout to deficiencies in the security agencies' operations. PIVT member Khikmatullo Saifullozoda expressed concern.

"This incident raises public anxiety and poses the question: How could such a large group escape from a facility closely guarded by two agencies? The situation is even worse because nobody knows where they went."

A review of the Justice Ministry and SCNS is essential, he said, and strengthening border security is necessary for preserving national stability. Most of the escapees were among 46 defendants sentenced August 20 by the Supreme Court to prison terms of 19 to 30 years for plotting to overthrow the government.

The court ruled they had backed Mirzo Ziyoyev, who was killed in 2009 in fighting between government forces and insurgents. The Supreme Court in July sentenced the two best-known escapees, Ziyoyev's sons, to 30 (Saidakhmad) and 28 (Mukhammadrizo) years in prison.