The al-Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) claimed responsibility for an ambush on a military convoy in September that killed 28 troops, and Tajik authorities blames terror groups for a suicide car bombing the same month.

Since September, Tajik forces have been engaged in a sweep operation against militants in the Rasht valley on the border with Afghanistan.

Tajikistan, the poorest country of the former Soviet Union, has an 800-mile border with Afghanistan that is almost impossible to police. It suffered a brutal civil war in the early 1990s, which pitted Mr Rakhmon’s supporters against the Islamic opposition, and left tens of thousands dead.

Al-Azhar has tried to distance itself from Islamic fundamentalists, in 2001 branding the perpetrators of the attacks on the World Trade Centre as heretics. But its alumni include many militants, including Omar Abdel-Rahman, who is currently serving a life sentence in the US for his role in the 1993 World Trade Centre bombings; Hassan al Banna, one of the founders of the banned Egyptian group, the Muslim Brotherhood; and Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, one of the founders of Hamas.

Source :  The Telegraph