Tajikistan

[davidbfpo]

Khorog is the provincial capital of Gorno-Badakhshan province, in Tajikistan.

The operation is yet another attempt by the Tajik government, which has little influence in the area, to bring Gorno-Badakhshan under its full control....The pre-dawn attack on fighters loyal to Mr Ayombekov deep in the Pamir mountains underlines the continuing instability of the impoverished former Soviet republic 15 years after the end of a civil war....It took place three days after State Committee on National Security (GKNB) regional head Abdullo Nazarov was found dead.

Link to news report:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18965366

Link to BBC's Country Profile:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16201032

The map on the news report at least shows where this happened.

[ganulv]

The map on the news report at least shows where this happened.

My classmate has one embedded at her personal website, as well.

[davidbfpo]

A round-up opinion piece:http://www.rferl.org/content/explain.../24657769.html

[ganulv]

and got it online today, as well. [LINK]

[davidbfpo]

Not exactly a great shock given shared interests:

Radio Liberty reports officers from the Afghan National Security Agency arrested and took to Kabul Qari Wadud, commander of the security forces in the Shuhada district in Afghan Badakhshan Province. Qari Wadud is reportedly suspected of being involved in the events that took place in Khorog, the capital of Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) last week.

Link:http://news.tj/en/news/afghan-region...-khorog-events

[davidbfpo]

A review of this "Stan", five years since the last post, after twenty years since a short civil war and a peace settlement. Must have been bad if so many fled to Afghanistan:

Tajikistan’s civil war dragged on for over five years, leading to huge casualties. Over its course, between 35,000 and 157,000 people were killed, 37,500 households were destroyed. Some 600,000 people fled to neighbouring Afghanistan, and 195,000 were dispersed across other post-Soviet states. More than 1.5m people became refugees within their own country, in this mountainous corner of the former Soviet empire.

Link:https://www.opendemocracy.net/od-rus...n-s-civil-war?

[davidbfpo]

Part Two by the same author as before, from Open Democracy; which examines the role of external actors (not Russia) who were once useful to the regime, but not now.
Link:https://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/bakhtiyor-sobiri/tajikistan-so-close-no-matter-how-far?