Militants took hostage 5 Tajik prosecutors before operation on July 24 -Prosecutor General's Office
DUSHANBE. July 28 (Interfax) - Illegal armed units in the Gorno Badakhshan autonomous region in eastern Tajikistan took hostage five officials from the Prosecutor General's Office on July 24, and they have all been released now, the Prosecutor General's Office reported.
"A group of armed criminals attacked a place where a team of investigators from the Prosecutor General's Office was staying, took hostage five prosecution officials, and stole two AKS-74 assault rifles before the beginning of a special operation at about 3:30 a.m. on July 24, 2012," the office said.
"All officials have been released now, and their lives are out of danger," it said.
The Prosecutor General's Office dispatched a team of investigators to Khorog, the administrative center of the autonomous region located 520 kilometers southeast of Dushanbe, after Maj. Gen. Abdullo Nazarov, the head of the Tajik National Security Committee department for Gorno Badakhshan, was killed on July 21.
In its Saturday statement, the Prosecutor General's Office shared the Gorno Badakhshan administration's confidence that Nazarov had been killed by an illegal armed group led by Tajik opposition commander Tolib Ayombekov.
Following an operation that government forces launched against the insurgents on July 24, in which dozens of people were killed and wounded on both sides, the parties concluded a ceasefire agreement and started negotiations, which continued until Saturday. Several hours ago, the Gorno Badakhshan administration said the insurgents refused to comply with the government's ultimatum demanding that they turn in four people suspected of killing Nazarov and lay down their arms.
