DUSHANBE, January 27, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- A large arms cache has been discovered in the Hissor district, some 20 kilometers southwest of Dushanbe.

According to the Ministry of Interior (MoI), the cache was discovered on the territory of cemetery of the Komsomol village on January 26.  “One assault rifle Kalashnikov, two small-bore rifles, one hunting gun, one “Mukha” disposable grenade launcher, four hand grenades F-1, two hand grenades RGD-5, and 660 bullets of different caliber were extracted from the cache,” the source at a MoI said.

The same day, hand grenade F-1 was confiscated from Dushanbe resident Saidjaffar Tilloyev.   The grenade was found in his car.  Criminal proceedings have been instituted against S. Tilloyev and an investigation is under way.

109 firearms, including 30 assault rifles Kalashnikov, 18 pistols, 21 rifles, 13 grenade launchers and other weapons, have been seized by Tajik law enforcement authorities since the beginning of this year.

According to data of the MoI, 1,128 firearms were seized in the country in 2009.  A totaled included 213 assault rifles, 139 pistols, 156 carbines, 134 rifles, 448 hunting guns and a large amount of bullets of different caliber.