TAJIKISTAN: 2006 COUNTRY REPORT ON TERRORISM

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 002222

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DEPT FOR SCA/CEN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC EFIN KCRM KPAO PTER KHLS AEMR
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN: 2006 COUNTRY REPORT ON TERRORISM

REF: STATE 175925


1. (SBU) Per ref request, Post provides Tajikistan's 2006
country report on terrorism.


2. (SBU) Sharing a 1,400-kilometer border with Afghanistan,
Tajikistan is well aware of the negative effects of
state-sponsored terrorism and offered its limited resources to
assist the United States almost unconditionally. Following the
deployment of U.S. troops to Afghanistan, Tajikistan allowed its
territory and air space to be used for counterterrorist actions.
The Tajik Government's main impediment to counterterrorism
performance remains its lack of resources. The fact that
Tajikistan remains the poorest of all the former Soviet
republics, and per GDP the ninth poorest country in the world,
puts these funding issues into context. There were no terrorist
acts committed against U.S. citizens in Tajikistan during 2006.


3. (SBU) While Tajikistan is not known to harbor any terrorist
groups, some analysts believe that extremists transit Tajikistan
to and from Afghanistan and Pakistan. While the 1,400 kilometer
Tajik-Afghan border is porous, the border guards are slowly
working to control it. The U.S. Government spent over $5.8
million in 2006 to train and equip the Tajik Border Guards in
order to increase their border-patrolling capabilities; these
programs were implemented through International Narcotics and
Law Enforcement (INL),Export, Customs and Border Security
Assistance (EXBS) Office, and the Office of Defense Cooperation
(ODC). These border fortifications and related
capacity-building assistance will help stem the flow of
potential terrorists attempting to cross the border and allow
Tajikistan to better monitor its own borders.


4. (SBU) Within the framework of the war on terrorism,
Tajikistan prohibited extremist-oriented activities and closely
monitored terrorist groups like the Islamic Movement of
Uzbekistan (IMU) and extremist groups like Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT).
HT, an extremist political movement advocating the establishment
of a theocratic Islamic state throughout the entire Muslim
world. The Government of Tajikistan believes HT is also active
in Tajikistan, particularly in the northern part of the country,
which is a part of the Fergana Valley.. In May 2006, a small
group of armed bandits attacked Tajik and Kyrgyz border posts.
The fighters killed and seized several weapons, including 17
Kalashnikov assault rifles, a PK light machine-gun and 3,000
rounds of ammunition. The date of the attack coincided with the
one-year anniversary of the Andijan uprising in Uzbekistan,
which led authorities to believe that the IMU was responsible
for these attacks. Kyrgyz security services killed four
militants during the attack and arrested one other. Tajik
authorities later convicted seven IMU members for their
participation in the attacks.


5. (SBU) While the United States has no evidence that HT has
committed acts of international terrorism, the group's radical
anti-American and anti-Semitic ideology is sympathetic to acts
of violence against the United States and its allies. In 2005,
approximately 74 members of HT were arrested and 44 HT activists
arrested the previous year were convicted and sentenced to
prison terms of three to 20 years. A recent press report stated
that Tajik authorities have arrested 56 alleged HT members this
year in Tajikistan. While the final statistics are not yet
available, the Tajik legal system has convicted at least 32 of
these suspects (nineteen men and thirteen women).


6. (SBU) The Tajik government does not keep a list of declared
terrorist organizations.


7. (SBU) Tajikistan participated in the counterterrorist
activities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO),the
Commonwealth Security Treaty Organization (CSTO),and the CIS
Counterterrorist Center.


8. (SBU) Analysts also believe that the Islamic Movement of
Uzbekistan (IMU) also operates in Tajikistan. Recent press
reports indicate that Tajik authorities arrested 30 suspect IMU
members in Tajikistan in 2006; figures are not available
regarding how many of them have been convicted. There is also
an ongoing trial of 11 alleged IMU members in Dushanbe, who are
accused of organizing January and June 2005 terrorist bombings
in Dushanbe, both of which occurred outside the Ministry of
Emergency Situations. One of the defendants is a member of the
Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (IRPT),the
officially-recognized Islamic opposition party. Tajik
authorities also arrested five additional alleged IMU members in
Isfara; during a search of their house, police claim that they
found 80 kilograms of ammoniac nitrate and four kilograms of
aluminum powder.


9. (SBU) Post's point of contact for this report is Political
Officer James Ricker, rickerjb@state.gov, phone 992-37-229-2507,

DUSHANBE 00002222 002 OF 002


IVG 752-2507.


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