DUSHANBE January 11, 2015, Asia-Plus – Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reports the suspected leader of a cell of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and 10 alleged subordinates have been detained in Tajikistan.

The Tajik Interior Ministry said in a televised statement late on January 7 that Ikrom Khalilov, a former imam of a local mosque, and the others had been apprehended in Shahrinav district, 50 kilometers west of the capital, Dushanbe.

According to the ministry, the group is suspected of planning to attack a police station in order to seize guns.

The IMU, which is active in neighboring Afghanistan and in Pakistan, is on the U.S. State Department''s list of foreign terrorist organizations.

It is believed to have links with Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.