KHUJAND, January 16, 2013, Asia-Plus  -- the chief of the Interior Ministry’s office for Sughd province, Sharif Nazarov, told reporters in Khujand on January 16 that three suspected members of the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and (IMU) and three other persons who were harboring them have been apprehended in a special operation carried out in the Mastchoh district.

One police officer was wounded in the operation that was conducted overnight between January 9 and 10.  Police and security forces reportedly confiscated ammunition and weapons from the suspects.

“The operation is going on,” the Sughd police chief said.

The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which says it wants to establish an Islamic Caliphate in Central Asia, is believed to have links with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

Tajikistan saw a spike in militant activity in 2010 that led to the deaths of dozens of troops.

In 2012, Sughd law enforcement authorities reportedly instituted eleven criminal proceedings against 72 members of religious extremist groups.  Among them are members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and Jamaati Tabligh, including two women and one minor.