After more than a month of anemic attempts by Tajik authorities to link militants fighting in the Rasht Valley to al Qaeda, President Emomali Rakhmon has suddenly dismissed rumors – started by his own people – that the country is under threat from international terror groups, Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency reports.
"Taking part in the Rasht district events were citizens of former Soviet republics, foremost Tajik citizens," Rakhmon stated. He referred to the special operation by the republic's law-enforcement bodies to neutralize illegal paramilitary formations that began on September 22.
According to the Tajik leader, there have been no breakthroughs by the Taliban or al Qaeda into the eastern part of Tajikistan.
Earlier, law-enforcement representatives officially stated that there were foreign mercenaries from Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Russian Federation fighting on the side of the militants.
Foreign pundits have eagerly rallied around Tajik assertions that foreign Islamic terrorists have descended on the country. Citing government officials, for example, London’s Telegraph reported last week that al Qaeda had set up training camps in the mountainous former Soviet republic on Afghanistan’s poorly guarded northern border.
Tajik troops have waged close quarter battles with al-Qaeda terrorists after uncovering a training camp in a remote valley that triggered warnings militants are spreading out of Afghanistan into its Central Asian neighbours.
Authorities in Central Asia have a reason to exaggerate. Since George Bush started his Global War on Terror in 2001, the region’s dictators have been jumping over each other for a piece of that sweet defense pie.
Why Rakhmon is backing down is anyone’s guess. Information out of Rasht is notoriously suspect. Maybe he was receiving a little too much attention as Russia eyes his porous (and lucrative) border.
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