DUSHANBE, September 7, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- According to the source at one of power-wielding structures of the country, a group of the escaped prisoners has exchanged gunfire with government forces in Romit Gorge, Vahdat district  today morning.  As a result of the gunfire, warrant of Tajik National Guard was killed.

The source says a search operation for the escaped prisoners is going on in the eastern part of Tajikistan including Romit Gorge, Vahdat and Fayzobod districts.

According to various data, a group of the escaped prisoners numbering 5-6 persons, among them are Russian citizens, is hiding in the mountains.  “They are well armed and they offering an active resistance,” source said.

We will recall that 25 convicts serving long jail terms escaped from the GKNB-run pretrial detention facility in the early hours of morning of August 23, killing five prison guards.  Dressing in camouflage, the escapees reportedly fled toward the east of Tajikistan.  The majority of the fugitives were among 46 people convicted by the Supreme Court on August 19 week of terrorism, drug trafficking, and seeking the forcible overthrow of the government.  The prisoners reportedly took advantage of the negligence of the jail warden.

Tajik law enforcement authorities said on September 2 that they had recaptured one escapee in Vahdat district, 20 kilometers east of Dushanbe.  His is Ibrohim Nasriddinov also known as Qori Ibrohim.  Makarov pistol and F-1 hand grenade were confiscated from him.

On September 6, government security officials captured Abdurasoul Mirzoyev in Fayzobod district, some 50 kilometers east of Dushanbe.  Abdurasoul is the brother of jailed former presidential-guard commander Ghaffor Mirzoyev who  also headed the Tajik counternarcotics agency.

The 23 other escapees, among them five Russian citizens, four Afghans and two Uzbeks, are still at large.