Tajikistan accuses Islamic party of IS ties

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan: Tajikistan on Saturday accused the country’s beleaguered Islamic party of ties with the Islamic State group based mainly in Iraq and Syria.
Members of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) have been “in active contact with militants in Syria” and have responded to the militants request to “raise the black flag of IS,” an interior ministry spokesman said.
“Activists and members of the IRPT directly engaged in the propaganda of IS’s extremist ideas, destabilising the peaceful situation in different parts of Tajikistan by raising the black flag of IS,” the spokesman told AFP.
He said “around 20” people had been arrested in connection with flag-raising incidents in the southern provincial towns of Shaartuz and Nurek but did not say how many were members of IRPT.
An IRPT spokesperson in Nurek confirmed one of its members had been arrested but said the party lacked enough information to comment further. Party representatives in Shaartuz could not be reached for comment.