DUSHANBE, June 9, 2014, Asia-Plus – Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service cited Afghan TV Channel Tolo as reporting that two nationals of Tajikistan, Komil and Umar, have been arrested in Afghanistan on suspicion of being members of the Taliban Movement.

According to Tolo , the Taliban militant who was accompanying the Tajik nationals from Pakistan committed suicide after Afghan law enforcement officers tried to detain him.

Earlier, the Afghan Government expressed concern about presence of militants from Central Asia’s nations, including Tajikistan, within the ranks of the Taliban.  Thus, the Afghan authorities noted that Tajik Taliban participated along with Afghan Taliban in an attack on Yumgan in Afghan Badakhshan.

We will recall that the Interior Ministry’s website reported on June 7 that the 22-year-old resident of the Mastchoh district in the northern Sughd province, Saddom Qudusov, has attempted to illegally cross the border into Afghanistan to join the Taliban militants.  He was reportedly detained in the Panj district, Khatlon province on suspicion of illegally crossing the border.  The preliminary investigation has established that Qudusov arrived in Panj for the purpose of crossing the border into Afghanistan in order to join the Taliban militants.  Criminal proceedings have been instituted against Saddom Qudusov and an investigation is under way.