KHUJAND, July 18, 2013, Asia-Plus -- Two members of the religious extremist Jundullah group have been convicted in the northern province of Sughd.

“A court in the Asht district sentenced Adham Abdulloyev, 27, and Sodiq Tourobov, 20, to 20 and 15 years in prison respectively on July 17,” Sughd chief prosecutor Sharif Qurbonov told reporters in Khujand on July 18.

According to him, the sentence followed their conviction on the charges of organizing a criminal group, organizing an extremist group and participating in an extremist group.  Abdulloyev and Tourobov will serve their terms in a high-security penal colony.

Sughd chief prosecutor notes that firstly Abdulloyev and Tourobov joined the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) while working in the Russian Federation.  “They then went over to the Jundullah group and Abdulloyev was trained in a terrorist camp in Pakistan’s Waziristan region,” said Qurbonov.  “They were detained in Sughd at the beginning of this year.”

Jundullah (Soldiers of God) is a violent and banned Islamic terrorist group in Pakistan closely tied to Al Qaeda and the Taliban (not to be confused with the Iran-based group of the same name led by Abdomalek Rigi).  The group is reportedly wanted in connection to a wide range of terrorist attacks, most famously the June 10, 2004 attempted assassination attempt on the convoy of  Ahsan Saleem Hyat, the then Karachi Corps Commander.