KHUJAND, September 6, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- On Monday September 6, senior representatives from the Khujand mayor’s office visited families of police officers who were killed in a September 3 attack on the Sughd regional police division to combat organized crime, according to the mayor’s office press service.

They expressed condolences to them and provided food and financial assistance to the families, the source said.

We will recall that two police officers were killed and 26 others were injured on September 3 as suicide bomber drove a vehicle packed with explosives into the office of the Sughd regional body empowered to combat organized crime.  Senior Lieutenant Ayubjon Mahkamov, 34, died in hospital as a result of injuries from the blast.  The second police killed in the blast was also identified.  He proved to be the 22-year-old trainee Alijon Mayoqubov from Khujand.

The suicide bomber who also was killed in the blast has not yet been identified.  The blast destroyed parts of the building of the Sughd anti organized crime division and shattered windows in surrounding buildings.

A special commission led by the Security Council Secretary Amirqul Azimov has been set up to investigate the Khujand attack, and Azimov himself was sent to Khujand on September 3 to oversee the probe.  Tajik law enforcement authorities noted that it could not be ruled out that persons involved in the blast had ties to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).