- Sputnik International
Russia
The latest news and stories from Russia. Stay tuned for updates and breaking news on defense, politics, economy and more.

RIA Novosti Website Blocked in Tajikistan

© RIA NovostiRIA Novosti Website Blocked in Tajikistan
RIA Novosti Website Blocked in Tajikistan          - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Access to the RIA Novosti website has been blocked in Tajikistan, a spokesman for a local internet provider said, claiming that the measure has been ordered by Tajik authorities.

Access to the RIA Novosti website has been blocked in Tajikistan, a spokesman for a local internet provider said, claiming that the measure has been ordered by Tajik authorities.

“We received a letter from a [government] watchdog requesting that we block the websites of news agencies RIA Novosti and Asia Plus starting from August 1,” the spokesman said.

Several internet users in Tajikistan confirmed that they cannot access the RIA Novosti website using different internet providers.

The Tajik authorities have not commented on the reports.

Several other websites, including the website of Russia's Vesti state television channel and popular Russian-language news service Lenta.ru, as well as Ferghananews.com, Pamir-vesti.ru and YouTube sites, have been blocked at the request of the state Communications Service. Access to the BBC website in Tajikistan was restored on Tuesday after a two-day break.

Experts link the move to a controversial armed conflict in the restive Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region in eastern Tajikistan last week.

On July 24, Tajik security forces carried out a special operation in the city of Khorog against a mafia-style group believed to be behind the murder of a top Tajik security general, Abdullo Nazarov.

Seventeen Tajik security officers were killed and another 40 were injured in the raid, which also left 30 suspected militants dead and 40 others detained, according to official reports.

Opposition media reported some 200 people killed in the fighting, both security officers and civilians. Dushanbe denies any civilian casualties.

Tajik opposition activists claim that the conflict was actually an attempt by President Emomali Rakhmon to suppress opposition in the region. They have accused Tajik authorities of using Nazarov’s murder, and the recent attacks on government officials, as a pretext for an ethnic cleansing campaign, and an attempt to re-establish control over the region which has long been known as a fiefdom of local warlords.

On July 23, a day before the controversial conflict, a demonstration that apparently sparked the anger of the country's authorities was held in Khorog. A video captured during the mass event and later posted on YouTube shows that one of those addressing the demonstration was Sabzali Mamadrizoyev, the head of the regional branch of Tajikistan's Islamic Revival Party (IRP).

Mamadrizoyev criticized the poor social and economic situation in the country and the inactivity of authorities. The activist was found dead three days later.

The Gorno-Badakhshan region remains volatile 15 years after a civil war between the Moscow-backed government and an Islamist-led opposition. Close to 50,000 people were killed during the conflict. The five-year war ended in 1997 with a United Nations-brokered peace agreement.

 

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала