DUSHANBE, August 3, 2015, Asia-Plus – Russian news agency Itar Tass has quoted a spokesman for Tajikistan’s State Committee for National Security (SCNS) as saying that Interpol has put on the wanted list 16 Tajik citizens who are accused of involvement with the Islamic State terrorist group at the request of Tajikistan.

He reportedly noted that “the list of wanted Islamic State supporters could grow to 600 and more people.”

“More than 600 our fellow countrymen are fighting in the ranks of Islamic State, their names and presumable locations in Syria, Iraq and partially in Afghanistan, are known to the country’s law enforcement agencies.  Criminal cases against them have been opened under the “mercenary activities” article,” the spokesman said.  “Explanatory work is conducted among relatives of Islamic State supporters, other methods are used, which made it possible to return several young people to their home country.”

“Tajikistan will not be able to cope with the growing threat of the ongoing involvement of its young fellow countrymen into the Islamic State ranks alone, so it is only possible to counter this threat by joining forces of the law enforcement and security agencies of the international community, first and foremost, our CIS colleagues, especially Russia,” he said.