DUSHANBE, November 10, 2010, Asia-Plus - The head of Tajikistan’s State Committee for National Security (SCNS) Saymuminm Yatimov said yesterday that the operation launched in late September against insurgents in Rasht district was almost complete and an armed group of Abdullo Rahimov, known as Mullo Abdullo, was almost crushed.

Speaking at a briefing following the 29th meeting of the Council of Heads of Security Agencies and Special Services of CIS Nations, the SCNS chief revealed on November 9 that several insurgents have been killed and an unspecified number of others have been detained or surrendered.

“The search operation for the remaining five or six militants that continue to resist the government forces is going on,” Yatimov said, adding that they also prevented an attempt by some religious parties to have influence on the situation in the eastern part of the country.

He said the militants had been unable to create disorder in the Rasht area and the situation in the eastern part of the country was fully under control.

We will recall that Tajik government forces launched a special operation to apprehend former opposition fighters in Rasht on September 22 following an ambush in Kamarob Gorge on September 19, in which at least 28 army conscripts were killed.  The government identified Mullo Abdullo and Ali Bedaki as having organized the attack.