Tajik authorities expect insurgents to lay down arms until noon Saturday
DUSHANBE. July 27 (Interfax) - The Tajik authorities have given the leaders of illegal armed units in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region until noon Saturday, July 28, to lay down their arms and surrender, a source familiar with the situation in the negotiations between the parties told Interfax on Friday.
The source said earlier on Friday that the warlords had accepted one of the two demands put forward by the authorities, namely that they voluntarily lay down their arms, but the process has still not been started. "We expected that the surrender of weapons would start today, but this has still not happened for reasons unknown to us," he said.
"Now we have given them until noon tomorrow so that they will finally start giving up their weapons," he said.
Negotiations on Friday continued, as the parties have still not reached an agreement on the second demand, namely that the insurgents turn in four people suspected of killing Abdullo Nazarov, a general of Tajik special services, on July 21.
A special effort to neutralize militants started in Khorugh, the capital of Gorno-Badakhshan, on July 24. The insurgents were reportedly led by former Tajik opposition commanders, who had fought during the 1992-1997 civil war against the Popular Front, which ultimately propelled incumbent President Emomali Rahmon to power.
On the first day, the authorities reported the death of 12 servicemen and 30 militants and the capture of 40 more militants. The following day fire was stopped and the sides sat down at the negotiating table. The government presented an ultimatum to the members of illegal armed groups, promising that they would be pardoned if they comply.
The operation was launched after the murder of Maj. Gen. Abdullo Nazarov, the head of the National Security Committee department for Gorno-Badakhshan. The government put the blame for killing Nazarov on militant field commander Tolib Aiyombekov and his supporters.
"The situation in Khorugh remains calm. The city residents can freely move around it. A number of food stores have been opened in the city," the source said.
Gorno-Badakhshan's communication lines, including cellular and landline telephone services and Internet access, were cut off on the first day of the operation. Tajik Communication Service Director Beg Zhukhurov said on Thursday that the absence of communication services in the province was due to a bullet hitting a fiber optic cable linking the region with the rest of the world and denied that the authorities deliberately disabled communication lines. He promised to provide the region with satellite phones to temporarily settle the problem and fix the cables as soon as possible.
However, relatives and friends of those living in Gorno-Badakhshan are skeptical about this explanation and believe rather that the authorities have deliberately blocked all communication in order to hamper coordination between the militants.
