Situation in Tajik capital quiet; similar reports coming from Khorugh
DUSHANBE. July 24 (Interfax) - The situation in the capital of Tajikistan is quiet, an Interfax correspondent said.
Nothing indicates that that a special operation was held in the country's east on Tuesday, during which 42 people, including 12 troops and 30 militants, were killed, official reports said.
The streets of Dushanbe are quiet. People are strolling down the streets after a midday heat, and fountains are operational. Police are also present in the streets but not in higher than usual numbers.
Meanwhile, people are alarmed by the reports from Khorugh, the center of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous District, located 520 kilometers southeast of Dushanbe. Internet and telephone connection has been cut off in Khorugh. Those who have friends and relatives in the province have been unable to contact them.
"I am very hopeful that this incident will be over soon and no one else will be hurt," user Shokhin from Tajikistan wrote on Facebook.
"I am waiting for the shooting there to stop as I am hopeful that my friends will get out of there quietly," wrote another user, Jamshed.
"And when will they stop? What if all this prompts a protest among civilians? That will be a lot worse," user Mavi wrote.
Earlier the authorities dismissed several media reports about fatalities among civilians.
On Tuesday, the Russian Service of the BBC said, citing an unnamed source, that around 100 officers were killed and over 100 civilians were reportedly dead.
"The battle is carried out not in Khorugh proper, but in its environs, where such a number of civilians is simply non-existent. My information is that no deaths were registered among civilians," an informed source told Interfax in Dushanbe.
"So far no one has been hurt and there were no door-to-door checks (by the military) either," user Komron wrote, citing the information obtained from a friend who lives in Khorugh.
"The situation is stable: there is no panic among people because the purpose of the security forces' arrival in the city is clear, they came legally and are not disturbing the civilians," Komron said.
The special operation in Khorugh began at 4 a.m. local time (3 a.m. Moscow time). The aim of the operation is to catch or neutralize a former Tajik opposition field commander, Tolib Aiyembekov, who is accused by the authorities of being involved in the murder of the security chief for the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province Maj. Gen. Abdullo Nazarov on July 21.
A statement issued by the State National Security Committee does not say whether Aiyembekov was caught and whether operation was over. However, sources told Interfax that the operation will continue the following day.
The Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province is a scarcely populated eastern part of Tajikistan covered by the Pamir Mountains.