DUSHANBE, January 16, 2012 Asia-Plus  -- A 42-year-old imam-khatib has been detained in Dushanbe for teaching without a license, an official source at the Ministry of Interior (MoI) said.

According to him, the imam-khatib has been teaching underage children without a license in his house over the past two years.

“Ten his students aged 5 to 12 were in his house when the law enforcement officers came to arrest him,” said the source.  “All of them are from various regions of the country.”

Investigation is under way.

Some Tajik experts say officials are trying to control all religious schools in an attempt to prevent the rise of radical Islam.