EASTERN DUSHANBE CLEARED OF INSUBORDINATE ARMED GROUPS.

The Tajik government reported yesterday the destruction of rogue commander Rovshan Gafurov’s armed group, which had operated on the eastern outskirts of Dushanbe and was periodically raiding the capital itself. Government troops captured Gafurov with some of his fighters and killed the rest. Crimes attributed to this group include the assassination of Otahon Latifi, the foremost secular leader in the United Opposition (UO) (see the Monitor, September 23-24, 1998). The government also reported yesterday the complete destruction of rogue leader Saidmuhtor Iorov’s detachment, which had operated in the same area in conjunction with Gafurov’s (Itar-Tass, Reuters, January 26, 27). The authorities had managed to kill Iorov and some of his fighters a few days ago (see the Monitor, January 26).

The two groups had operated for the last two years in the Lenin district, just east of Dushanbe. United Opposition forces have been entrenched for almost two years in the same area. Iorov and Gafurov were defying the UO but were even more of an embarrassment to the government with their raids into the capital. Following Latifi’s assassination, government forces launched massive operations against the two rogue groups (see the Monitor, October 2, 13, 1998), but needed considerable time and resources to prevail.

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