Tajikistan Kills Suspected Militants

Tajik authorities say they have killed at least 10 Islamic militants in the restive Rasht Valley. 

Local press report the haul includes Tajikistan’s most wanted man, Abdullo Rakhimov, often known by his nom de guerre, Mullo Abdullo. But an Interior Ministry official told the Associated Press he could not confirm the operation, carried out with armored vehicles and air support, felled the elusive Abdullo. Media speculation on “training exercises” in Rasht, which began on April 14, led to a flurry of conflicting reports (examples here and here) on Friday about the number of dead, and whether Abdullo was among them. 

The state-run Khovar news agency did not mention Abdullo on April 15. 

Abdullo, a United Tajik Opposition fighter who never accepted the peace treaty that ended Tajikistan’s 1992-1997 civil war, is wanted for an attack last September on a government convoy that left at least 25 troops dead.

He has become known as “Tajikistan’s bin Laden.” Blamed for a variety of militant attacks in recent years, many doubt he has survived his years on the run between Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Officials regularly say military operations designed to hunt Abdullo have ended.

Reports about killed militants in the former Soviet Union have a way of reversing themselves. Doku Umarov, a Chechen rebel leader described as “Russia’s bin Laden,” was reported killed last month. He later resurfaced. 

With Abdullo, it's unclear if there is anything to kill or capture.