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Tajiks seek 3 Khatlon residents said to join Taliban

Staff Report

DUSHANBE -- Tajik authorities are looking for three residents of Khatlon Province who are suspected of going abroad several years ago to join the Taliban, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported July 20, quoting police officials in the province.

Authorities are withholding the suspects' names during their investigation. They consider the trio a threat to national security, like a Panj resident, Shakhriyor Turkhanov, who spent three months with the Afghan Taliban and then returned to Tajikistan with the intent of bombing two buildings in Dushanbe.

Turkhanov was arrested in the spring on the Tajik-Afghan border and was sentenced to 21 years' imprisonment. Authorities fear that the three missing Khatlon Province residents might have similar intentions.

Two hundred eighty-three residents of Khatlon Province are on international wanted lists for suspected membership in terrorist groups, according to provincial police.

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